What is Scrapbooking/a scrapbook?
Scrapbooking is the creative process of mounting your photos, memorabilia, and journaling onto photo-safe paper, highlighting or embellishing them with accents. A scrapbook is a collection of photographs and memorabilia.
Glossary of Scrapbooking Terms
- Acid Free (A/F): Acid causes photos to yellow and deteriorate over time. Acid is used in paper manufacturing to break apart the wood fibers and the lignin that holds them together. Acid Free items have a pH of 7.0 or higher.
- Adhesive: Glue, Tape runners, Xyron, Double-sided tape . . . all used to adhere photos to your layouts.
- Archival Quality: Indicates that products have been tested and gone through laboratory analysis to determine their acidic and buffered content is within safe levels to be used in preserving photographs.
- Buffered Paper: Papers having a pH of 8.5, where during manufacturing, a buffering agent such as calcium carbonate or magnesium bicarbonate is added to neutralize acid contaminants.
- Cardstock: Sturdy paper used in scrapbooking, usually in solid colors
- Collage: An artistic composition made of various materials that are adhered to a solid surface.
- Corner Edger Scissors: Scissors used to cut decorative corners--each pair creates four different designs/cuts.
- Crop: Means to trip or cut a photograph down to size, eliminating the excess background to focus on the main subject of the photograph . . . it is also a term that is used when hosting a scrapbooking gathering where you gather to work on your layouts/albums while sharing techniques, products, information, tools, etc.
- Die-Cuts: Paper designs that have been cut using hand held die cutters, or electronic die cutting machines.
- Double-Mount: To place your photo on two background papers
- Embellish/Embellishment: Any item used to enhance your photos.
- Emboss: a decorative raised surface
- Journaling: Text writing that describes the photograph, event, or thoughts on a layout.
- Layout: the grouping of photographs on a page
- Lignin: A natural bonding element that holds wood fibers together which causes your paper to become yellow and brittle over time.
- Matting: Creates a frame around your photo by layering your photo on top of a slightly larger cardstock or patterned paper.
- Memorabilia: Includes anything you've collected during an event/trip, certificates, documents, souvenirs, etc.
- Page Protector: An A/F clear plastic that protects your layouts stored in your album.
- Paper Trimmers: used to create straight cuts.
- Permanent Adhesive: glues that are very tacky and are almost instantly permanent when applied.
- pH Level: The measurement that shows the acidic level or a product. for scrapbooking you want to use products with a pH level of 7 (which is neutral) or above.
- Photo Corners: decorative paper used on the corners of your photos to hold them onto your page, yet allowing your photo to be safely removed if necessary.
- Photo Sleeve: A clear plastic pocket that you slip your photograph into to protect it.
- Post-Bound Album: An album held together with metal screw posts allowing you to expand the size of your album as you add pages.
- Red-Eye Pen: Used to take the red-eye out of flash photographs
- Repositionable Adhesive: Adhesives/glues that do not create an instant bond until dry.
- Sheet Protector: Clear pockets large enough to hold your completed layout to store inside an album. It's important that they are A/F. Polypropylene (vinyl) is not safe.
- Vellum: Translucent/semi-transparent paper.
