If you’re new to scrapbooking, or even if you’ve been doing it for awhile, you’ve probably come across a few terms you’re not familar with. Here’s a list of definitions/explanations from Scrapbook Life Tips that can help make it all clear!

• SCRAPBOOKING – The tradition of taking photos, and memorabilia, and placing them in family keepsake albums along with relevant journalling.
• MEMORY OR KEEPSAKE ALBUM – Another term for scrapbook.
• JOURNALING – Journaling is writing down the who, what, where, when and why that goes with your photos. An important part of scrapbooking that is often never done for fear of ruinning a page with bad handwriting or a mistake or putting it off for later which never comes. Journaling in your scrapbook should always be done using permanent, fade and water proof writing tools. Using the computer to journal makes it easier for some to keep up with this important task.
• CROPPING – Cropping is the trimming of a photo to remove unnecessary sections. Cropping should be done to improve a photo not just to make a pretty shape. Cropping also allows for more photos to be added to a page. When cropping some attention should be paid to maintaining the historical integrity of a picture. Never crop out anything that identifies the time period in which the photo was taken.
• CROP – A crop is an event where scrapbookers meet to work on their scrapbooks, share tools and techniques.
• MOUNT – The placing of a photo or memorabilia onto a scrapbook page using adhesive.
• ADHESIVES – Product used to attach photographs and other components onto a scrapbook page. Adhesive types include photo corners (clear plastic stick on style or paper “lick and stick” style) which are considered to be non permanent, photo tape, photo tabs, tape runner (all forms of double sided tape) which are considered permanent but in actuality articles can be removed with slight damage to the album page, and glue which can be considered permanent and not recommended for adhering photographs.
• HERITAGE PHOTO – A photograph that is of special significance due to its age, rarity or/and historical importance.
• POLAROID OR INSTANT PHOTOS – A photo that develops before your eyes. Until recently these were the least stable of photo types. They have improved but are still very prone to fading in light. Due to the nature of most of the prints they should not be cropped. Cropping may result in chemical seepage which will damage the print and may be harmful to skin and eyes.
• BORDER – The margins of a scrapbook page. Usually spoken of in terms of decoration.
• MAT – The placing of a photo for decorative effect onto cardstock cut slightly larger and then placed onto a scrapbook page.
• TEMPLATE – Plastic or card sheet with punched out shapes that can be used to crop photos and photo mounting paper into shapes. Some templates are suitable for drawing outlines or journalling lines.
• PHOTO CORNERS – A non permanent method of adhering photos to a page. Small triangles of plastic or card stock one for each corner are adhered to the page and the corners of the photo slotted in. The photo is held in place but may be easily removed for copying, etc.
• CIRCLE CUTTER – Scrapbook tool used to create circles from photos and mounting paper. Circle cutters vary in type from tower to template style, fixed blade to separate knife systems. Different circle cutters suit different people so it is best to try a few before you commit to one.
• TRIMMER – Tool used for straight cropping of photos and cardstock. Can come in guillotine, rotary or blade style
• ACID – Acid is a substance found in paper that causes it to weaken and crumble. Skin and saliva are also acidic.
• ACID FREE SCALE – The Acid Scale goes from 0-14. 0 is very acidic while 14 is very alkaline. 7 is considered acid free but a pH value of 8 is preferable for use scrapbooks.
• ACID FREE – Many papers can be considered acid free immediately after manufacture however unless they have been buffered, i.e. treated with a neutralising agent, chemical reactions with substances such as sizing or bleaching will cause the paper to become acidic over time. All plastic by its nature is acid free however some plastic is unsafe for use in photo albums.
• ACID MIGRATION – Acid migration occurs when something with acid is placed against an article that is acid free. Photographs mounted on acidic paper will weaken and crumble. Acidic memorabilia can be added to photo albums if encapsulated in polypropylene sleeves or placed on buffered card on a page underneath a protective sleeve.
• BUFFERED – Something that has been subjected to the addition of alkaline substances such as magnesium carbonate or calcium carbonate to prevent acids forming in the future due to chemical reactions.
• PVC (POLYVINYL CHLORIDE) – PVC is a common plastic which because it is chemically unstable releases a chlorine gas. When this gas settles onto a surface it turns into hydrochloric acid. This acid will cause photographs to fade and discolour.
• LIGNIN-FREE – A product that contains no lignin. Lignin is either removed during processing to make paper safe or the paper is manufactured from a base material that is already lignin free such as cotton.
• LAMINATION – The coating of paper with a thin, translucent plastic. Lamination is considered unacceptable as a conservation methods due to the high heat and pressure used during application and its irreversibility.
• STICKERS – Stickers are one of the most basic scrapbooking supplies. Scrapbooking stickers should be acid free, and lignin free (or photo safe such as Stickopotamus™). Traditionally scrapbooking stickers are made out of printed paper, adhere to your page with a sticky back and are very quick, and easy to use. More recently scrapbooking stickers have become more embellished – some sporting fiber, beads, wire, ribbon and other such products that give your scrapbook pages depth and texture. Stickers are a must for every scrapbooker and come in almost any imaginable theme.
• PUNCH ART – A decoration made up from punchies. The components may or may not have anything to do with the final art. For example, a flower may be made from overlapping heart shaped punchies in a circle with a small circle punchie in the centre. Freehand cut a stalk and place leaf punchies along it. Punch art can be simple to quite elaborate.
• DIE-CUT – A shape or letter cut from paper by machine using a die pattern.
• EYELET – Eyelets are small metal circles through which the laces are threaded on a pair of shoes. They are used in a scrapbook context as decoration and as a means to “rivet” components onto a page–mainly card stock.
• RAG BOARD/RAG PAPER – Board or paper made from material other than wood, such as cotton, which is naturally lignin free, stable and durable.
• VELLUM – Once made from animal gut, vellum is now manufactured from wood fibre which is, to put simply, beaten until clear, or plastic. It has a wonderful translucent quality and is slow to absorb ink. Vellum is available in both acidic and non acidic forms.
• MULBERRY – Mulberry Paper is a fibrous paper which adds a lovely soft touch to a mounted photo, journaling or title. There are several scrapbook techniques to keep in mind when working with this paper. Take care to use only paper which is acid free and lignin free. For best effect Mulberry Paper should be torn. The trick to tearing Mulberry Paper to the desired shape is to moisten it using a paintbrush dipped in water before gently easing apart the fibers. The wider the area moistened, the more ragged the edge. Make sure the paper is dry before mounting.
• PAPER PIECING – The use of cut out shapes to produce a picture. Similar to applique, pieced paper pictures can range from very simple to complex, and can be a page decoration or constitute an entire layout.