Acetate – Clear plastic that can be stamped. Used as a window on shaker cards or as an overlay.
Accordion folding – A mountain and valley style folding technique used on this site to create rosettes.
Aperture – A window in the front of a card. You can buy cards with pre-cut apertures, or cut / punch your own.
Baker’s Twine – Historically used by butchers and bakers, this rustic-looking twine add’s a great finishing touch to cards.
Basket Weaving – Involves weaving threads, ribbons or strips of fabric over then under one another to create a woven effect.
Bone Folder – A tool that is round at one end and pointed at the other, used to make a neat, sharp crease in paper or card.
Brads – Paper fasteners with split pins that go through paper then pull apart and flatten to secure.
Brayer – A rubber roller used to put ink and paint onto larger areas of paper, a bit like stamping.
Brilliance Ink – Fast-drying pigment ink in pearlescent colors. Designed for use on glossy paper but also dries on vellum, mica and acetate. Manufactured by Tsukineko.
Brush Markers – Felt-tip pens that can be used directly on your stamps or to color in stamped images.
Chipboard – Used to make chunky shaped embellishments. Buy it plain or ready decorated.
Clear Stamp – A type of unmounted stamp. They are made of clear polymer and are made to cling to an acrylic block without adhesive.
Collage – A form of art in which various materials such as photos and papers are arranged together.
Copic Markers – A brand of alcohol-based blendable marker pens. Used on this site to color stamped images.
Core’dinations – Textured card with a colored core, ideal for tearing, embossing and distressing.
Craft CD-ROM – A disc containing a digital collection of materials.
Crimper – A tool that produces a narrow, accordion-like fold on paper and card.
Decoupage – The technique of cutting and layering paper to create a dimensional look.
Die-Cuts – Pre-cut shapes which you simply push out and attach to your base card as embellishments.
Die-Cutter – A die cutting machine cuts out shapes from paper or card. The machine sandwiches metal dies (templates) over paper which is then fed through a roller by turning a handles on the machine.
Digi-Kit – A digital collection of materials that can include papers, alphabets and toppers.
Digi-Stamp – A digital image or images that can be downloaded and printed from a website and colored.
Distressing – Various techniques such as inking, tearing and sanding to give an “aged” effect to paper.
Distress Ink Pads – Tim Holtz’s collection of acid-free, non-toxic, fade resistant, water-based dye inks used for creating a vintage, stained, aged effect. Manufactured by Ranger.
Distress Oxide Ink Pads – “Tim Holtz Distress® Oxide® Ink Pads are water-reactive dye & pigment ink fusion that creates an oxidized effect when sprayed with water. Use with stamps, stencils, and direct to surface. Blend using Ink Blending Tools and Foam.”
Dry Embossing – Getting a raised or recessed paper image using a stylus and a stencil or by using an embossing machine, such as the Texture Boutique, and embossing folders.
Easel Card – A card where the front panel stands up by resting on a raised part of the bottom of the base card.
Embossing Folder – A plastic folder with a raised design on one side and an indented design on the other. Paper or card is placed in between the folder and rolled through a machine.
Embossing Powder – Fine, sand-like powder used to create raised images. The powder must be adhered to the surface with pigment ink and then heat set to raised the image.
Eyelets – A metal ring designed to reinforce a grommet.
Eyelet Setter – A tool to fix eyelets into paper or cardboard.
Fabric Papers – Very thin sheets of fabric that have a sticky backing.
Foam Pad – A sticky piece of adhesive foam used to create a 3D finish.
Gel Pen – A pen with smooth-flowing, acid-free and archival quality ink often used to highlight stamped images.
Glamour Dust – A dry, very fine sprinkle-on glitter that adds sparkle to painted fabric or paper.
Glitter Glue – A wet glue that comes pre-mixed with glitter particles. Used to add highlights to stamped images or applied directly to card.
Glossy Accents – A 3D material that dries to a clear, glossy finish. It’s used to add dimension and magnify areas on a card. Can be used as an adhesive.
Glue Gun– An electric tool used for heating and applying adhesive.
Grosgrain – A type of fabric, often ribbon, ribbed in appearance.
Heat Embossing – This gives stamped images a glossy, raised finish. Add embossing powder to images stamped with pigment ink and melt the powder with a heat gun.
Heat Gun – A craft tool used to melt embossing powder or heat set ink.
Iridescent Glitter – Glitter which seems to change color when viewed from different directions and adds dimension and sparkle.
Iris Folding – A technique that involves arranging folded strips of paper in a spiral pattern that resembles the iris of a camera. The craft originated in Holland.
Jute Mesh – An open weaved, gauze-like material made of jute.
Kraft Card – Light brown, usually recycled card stock. Great paired with a vellum overlay for invitations and announcements. Used in scrapbooking and greeting cards as well.
Masking – A rubber stamping technique used to make stamped images seem to be behind one another. Stamp an image first on the project, then again on scrap paper, cut out, place over the first stamped image, then continue to stamp other images over the cutout. Newly stamped images will appear behind the first image.
Mirri Card – A high quality laminated reflective card that resembles a mirror.
Mounted Stamp – Traditional rubber stamp with the stamped rubber mounted onto a piece of wood.
Paper Crimper – A tool used to corrugate paper or card stock.
Paper Piecing – The process of taking a design, making a pattern, cutting it down into smaller sections and then re-assembling it.
Peel-Offs – A style of sticker with simple outlines or greetings that peel off from a sheet.
Perfect Pearls – A brand of pearlescent effect pigment inks from Ranger, available in powder or spray form in a variety of shades.
Pigment Ink – A thick, slow drying ink that is recommended for use when heat embossing. Not recommended for use on glossy or coated papers.
Pop Dots – Thick foam dots with adhesive on both sides. Used for adding dimension. Manufactured by All Night Media.
Punch – Tools used to quickly punch out shapes to decorate projects.
Quilling – A technique that involves rolling strips of paper into a variety of shapes and gluing together to form a variety of patterns.
Quilling Tool – A utensil with a wooden handle and a thin metal head, used to wind strips of quilling paper into a tight coil.
Rub-On – A transfer that can be adhered to your card with a lolly stick or a bone folder.
Shaker Card – A card with a transparent panel on the front, made from acetate, which contains materials that move around when shaken.
Sketch – A basic card layout. A “pattern” to help you lay out the elements on your card.
Stamp Positioner – A t-shaped tool that allows the precise placement of stamped images.
Stencil – Available in brass, plastic and card, stencils have cut out areas where ink is applied. They can also be used with an embossing tool and a light box to create a raised image.
Stylus – A pen-like tool with a blunt, rounded end used to dry emboss paper.
Template – A drawn or cut-out shape that is used to trace and cut identical shapes from paper and other materials.
Topper – A ready-made embellishment that you can stick onto your base card.
Unmounted Stamp – The rubber part of a stamp that has not been adhered to a cushion and wood mount or a clear polymer stamp that clings to an acrylic block.
Vellum – A thin, lightweight, transparent sheet of paper.
VersaMark Ink – A clear ink that produces a translucent watermark stamp, which can be embossed with a heat gun, chalked, or left undecorated.
Washi Tape – A “masking” like tape originally from Japan made from natural fibers or tree bark. These strong tapes come in many designs, patterns and widths. Functional for everyday and decorative use.
Xyron Sticker Machine – “A machine that applies an adhesive to the backside of any paper you run through it.”
