Free of chemicals that harm photos in scrapbook projects. Generally, materials whose ph is over 7.0 are considered acid-free. ALL materials used in scrapbook pages should be acid-free.

Water soluble paint made from pigments and a plastic binder; sometimes used with stamps instead of ink; sometimes applied directly to paper and other embellishments. Especially good used with foam stamps (rubber stamps are too detailed)

Anything that sticks one material to another. Several common types of adhesive are double-sided tape, glue dots or glue sticks.

Lets you adjust scissors blade tension to your own comfort level.

A term used when something contains alkali or has a ph level of more than 7.0. It is the opposite of acidic. In paper products, an alkaline substance is added to the pulp during the manufacturing process, which gives permanence and durability.

Long-lasting dye ink that will not fade or smear. Even when you apply water colours after stamping, it will not bleed.

Angled handles make it easy to cut cloth and other materials on flat surfaces.

A flat piece of bone or plastic, round at one end, pointed at the other; about the size of a letter-opener. Used for scoring and folding paper.

Punch easily the margins of a page or card (straight or circle, punch and/or emboss).

A tool resembling a small paint roller, often made of rubber, hard foam or a soft sponge-like material. Use it with paint or ink to create decorative patterns on a flat surface.

Formal, old fashioned lettering.

Acid-free chalk that is usually applied with an eye shadow-type applicator or cotton swab to add dimension to die cuts, torn edges, cards, etc.

Art purchased in book or software from that can be applied to scrapbooking pages.

An artistic composition made of various materials (paper, cloth, wood) that are glued onto a surface.

Light, acid and heat are the main things that can harm your scrapbooks or cards. A colourfast item resists all three.

Great punches for embellishing corners, borders, frames and detailed piece work (punch, cut and/or emboss).

A Craft knife with a sharp removable blade used for cutting papers and card.

Sometimes paper can seem too flat. A crimper adds dimension.

Using a scissor or craft knife to cut away unwanted parts of a photo in order to create a focal point.

The opposite of embossing; the design is indented into the paper or material. If you turn the paper over, it's embossed.

These are plastic or metal rulers that have been shaped to give you a decorative edge that you can either cut or draw along.

To place a photo on two background papers.

Quick drying ink, not generally used for embossing. Ideal for use on vellum paper if you do not wish to add embossing powder.

Creating a raised three-dimensional design or image on paper or other materials.

A technique which uses a rubber stamp with inks and embossing powder and which is then heated with a heat gun. This then results in a raised stamped image on paper or other material.

Powder applied using embossing ink, then heated until it melts to create a raised, embossed, colored image on paper or almost anything else.

Small hollow metal shapes, applied to a small hole punched in paper or fabric and then secured by splitting the base of the eyelet open with an eyelet setter.

The place on a design/layout/image to which the eye is naturally drawn; generally it is desirable for a main photograph to be the focal point of a scrapbook page.

Ball point pens with smooth-flowing, acid-free and archival quality ink.

Extremely sticky round dots of glue used to hold on embellishments such as buttons or heavy metal pieces. Also very useful in sticking things to papers and materials that are normally stick-resistant.

Trimmer system with a blade moving and cutting from top to bottom.

Paper made by hand that is often rough and uneven in texture. There are flowers and leaves in the paper sometimes, which can add a natural look to your scrapbook.

see “Self-healing matâ€ù

A hand held heating tool, used to melt embossing powder so it adheres to paper or other material to produce a raised stamped image.

The technique of using ink pads to smear, accent by smudging, or staining on the edges of paper and other embellishments.

Hand-written or computer generated on a scrapbook page that usually tells the story of what's going on in the photos.

The arrangement of elements on a scrapbook page or other work of art.

Lignin is what holds wood together. But if it's not removed during the papermaking process, the paper can change colour and become brittle over time. Documents and projects for archiving need to use lignin-free paper.

A technique that gives the effect of stamped images behind each other or in front of each other.

Mounting a photo onto a larger piece of paper or several concentric layers to produce a pleasing effect.

Scissors with a specially sharpened point for precise cuts.

In papercraft this is a technique where you cut photos or paper into small shapes and piece them together to create the mosaic effect.

Mosaic can also apply to ceramic tiles, glass etc. and small tiles can be bought specifically for creating a mosaic eff

To adhere a photograph, embellishment or other item to another piece of paper.

A reasonably hard wearing protective polyester covering that can be used to cover album pages.

Also used in the production of templates.

A special blade coating which repels the sticky residue from tape and glue.

Any substance or surface that will not allow any light to pass through.

Decorative-edge scissors.

The technique of tearing the paper rather then cutting the paper to create a unique edge.

The rich parchment crafting history of the Parchamoreâ„¢ Crafting System goes back centuries to when nuns did detailed work on real animal skin parchment. This modern, quicker and easier embossing method uses archival friendly cotton and wood pulp parchme

A measurement that tells a scrapbooker how acidic or basic something is. For scrapbooking, you want to use products with a ph level of seven or above.

This term is generally used in place of the term acid-free when a manufacturer can't legally claim that a product is acid-free. As a rule of thumb, it's a good idea to avoid products that claim to be photo safe rather than acid-free.

Slow drying ink, used widely for wet embossing. This ink is also used regularly in scrapbooking because it tends to keep its deep, rich color longer than other inks.

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

The paper shape which results from using a paper punch tool - not the hole left by the punch. Punchies can be used on a scrapbook pagefor decorative effect, if they have been punched from acid free, lignin free paper.

Technique that rolls strips of paper to make different shapes to embellish your project.

Used to take red-eye out of flash photographs.

Contoured handle at one end, circular blade at the other. So comfortable to cut through multiple layers of fabric, paper and more.

The technique used to distress, age or roughen the surface or edge of paper and other materials.

Tray with pegs that provides a base for Fiskars two-part stencils to make embossing simple and easy. Ideal size for scrapbooking: 30 x 30 cm.

A brown tint (originally squid ink) added to photos to give them an old-fashioned appearance. Very popular in heritage photos or photos of children.

An embellishment created by putting small punched pieces, glitter or other small, flat objects between a layer of material and transparency film. Usually used on handmade cards or scrapbook pages. As much fun to make as to view.

Tool designed to cut shapes (circles, ovals, stars, etc.). Can be used with Shape Templates or used free-hand.

Cutting around the subject carefully in order to preserve detail, then mounting it on a contrasting background.

Using a small sponge you dap lightly onto a piece of paper leaving a distinct sponge look of small dots.

Clear, rubber, felt or foam pads for printing patterns onto paper or other material.

One of the most basic scrapbooking supplies. Scrapbooking stickers should be acid free. 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. Give your scrapbook page

A tool used in dry embossing with either one or two metal ball shapes on either end.

A rolling device that distributes double sided tape onto pages or photographs.

A sheet, usually of soft or hard plastic, with cut-out shapes that you can use to trace or cut identical shapes from paper or other materials.

The overall emphasis of a page or scrapbook.

Rubber or vinyl stamps that are not mounted to any backing or block.

Transparent and water soluble after drying.