Crafting Glossary - Crafting Terms explained

Whether you're not sure of a term or have never heard of this Crafting Jargon, then look below for an explanation for all of these crafty terms.

Sound like a crafting pro with these crafting words!


A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

Glossary AGlossary A
  • Accent-Foiling – foil added to a design to highlight or accentuate a specific area of the image

  • Acetate – a transparent material available sheets of several thicknesses perfect for construction, aperture windows and more

  • Acrylic Block – a clear piece of acrylic cut into a shaped block of various sizes & thicknesses. Used to hold your unmounted stamps to provide a firm foundation for applying pressure when stamping

  • Adorable Scorable – our top-quality branded cardstock that is perfect for creating card bases, matting and layering, construction work, die-cutting and more, taking the perfect score every time without feathering or cracking! Most Adorable Scorable is 350gsm but is also available in smaller weights *Please Note, we can only guarantee no feathering or cracking when scoring by hand

  • Adorable Scoreboard – our award winning scoreboard with in-built box making technology, create the perfect score every time and create handmade boxes with ease!

  • Alcohol Markers – pens containing ink that is made up of a dye suspended in alcohol. When used, the solution evaporates as it's drying leaving a super-smooth layer of dye ink. This colouring medium is not water soluble

  • Aperture Card – a type of card with a cut-out window section which can be used with acetate or to frame Decoupage/Deco-Large

  • Background paper – a sheet of paper printed on one or both sides (double-sided) with a fancy design, perfect for creating backgrounds for your cards

  • Blending Tools – a tool, usually made up of a handle with a sponge end, that is used to apply ink from an inkpad onto card; also helps blend ink to create patterns and ombre effects

  • Brush Markers – pens with a brush style tip that combines the art and flow of a paintbrush, with the convenience of a marker, perfect for brush lettering and artistic projects

  • Card Blank – a piece of card already scored in half ready to be used as a base for a card

  • Cardstock – a piece of unscored card. Available in a variety of thickness’, sizes, colours & designs

  • Concept Card – a special type of card that is made a certain way to create a unique card/project. They often have moving parts, special die-cut or scored elements or other creative concepts that make these perfect as a gift and card

  • Construction Glue – a wet glue commonly used for construction work such as box making due to the strong, permanent hold it achieves when dry; adhesive for card, mdf, fabrics and more

  • Craft Knife – a cutting tool with a sharp, replaceable blade that can be used for small and precise cutting; used with a cutting mat

  • Cutting Dies – a specialised tool used to cut material using a press such as a die-cutting machine, these dies are commonly used for cutting paper and card but some dies may also cut fabric

  • Cutting Mat – a mat available in various sizes that is durable, used with cutting tools such as craft knives to protect your worktops; available as a self-healing cutting mat that when cut, retains its structure allowing you to keep cutting

  • Debossing – the opposite of embossing, debossing creates an imprinted image with a depressed effect

  • Deco-Large – the art of building layers to create a 3D design, our Deco-Large sets feature larger images and more layers, all die-cut for ease

  • Die-Brush Tool – a tool used to aid die-cutting, made with a stiff brush that can be used to run over die-cut pieces to remove any small pieces of paper or card from the cut sections

  • Die-Cut – elements in Topper sheets and other card making kits, that have been pre-cut by machine and are held in the sheet by small pips, making it easy to pop pieces out for your cardmaking

  • Distress Ink – a water-based ink pad that can be used to stamp or colour an area

  • Distressing – giving something a vintage look by roughing up with a tool, or using mixed media to create a similar vintage look

  • Dye-Based Ink Pad – features a water based dye saturated with colour, held in a pad for ease of application via stamp, tool or smudging onto a surface

  • Easel Card – a type of card that creates an easel shape when standing

  • Embellishments – little decorative finishing details added to a card or project, usually including gemstones, ribbon, buttons, glitter and more

  • Embossing – the process of creating a raised design on card/paper/other mediums

  • Embossing Folders – a plastic folder that contains a design on the inside which, when run through a die-cutting/embossing machine with card inside of the folder, creates an embossed version of the image on the card

  • Embossing Powders – a powder that can be used with stamping to create a raised/embossed image without using embossing folders; requires heat to create the embossed effect and is available in a variety of colours

  • Embossing Tools – tools with metal ends in various shapes used to create different effects when used on card, paper or parchment

  • Envelope Glue – a type of adhesive that can be used to create your own glue strips on handmade envelopes

  • Ergonomic – refined design to optimise products for use of crafters in application and comfort

  • Foiled – elements, borders and accents have been foiled by machine to enhance our imagery
  • For the Love of Masks – laser-cut from quality mylar, these masks are perfect for inking through and around or using other mixed media to create background designs
  • For the Love of Stamps – our award-winning clear, photopolymer stamps available in a huge variety of designs and styles, with self-adhesive backs for easy stamping
  • Gatefold Card – a type of card where the front is cut in half to create an opening that opens like a gateway

  • GSM – grams per square meter; used to describe the weight of card or paper; the higher the number, the thicker the card

  • Guillotine – a tool used for cutting heavy-weight cardstock, done so with the aid of an arm attached to the body of the guillotine, which holds a large blade

  • Heat Embossing – a method of creating an embossed image with the use of embossing powders and a heat tool, often combined with stamping to make the stamped image embossed

  • Hi-Tack Tape – a strong adhesive double-sided tape often used for construction projects or for adding a stronger hold for acetate and other card making elements  

  • Inserts – a piece of paper used on the inside of a card as a space for the sender to write a message or greeting. Sometimes featuring printed images, other times they just have a sentiment in the centre

  • Kraft card – a brown cardstock with a natural look that can be used for layering, die-cutting and more

  • Little Book – our branded Little Books are paper pads containing 144 or more pages of 150gsm printed paper in a wide range of images and designs, available in A6 and 5” x 5”

  • Low Tack Tape – an adhesive tape with a weaker hold perfect for masking or using to stick down elements which can be removed without ripping the paper/card

  • Masks – are the reverse of a stencil, these features designs that are cut out of the piece of plastic, wood, metal etc giving you a negative image to ink around, leaving you with a negative space underneath

  • Matting & Layering – building up your card with different layers of card or paper so that you main element – topper – is enhanced by the design

  • Mica Powder – a fine powder made from a natural mineral that creates a metallic or pearlescent effect

  • Mirri Card – our most highly respected mirror card with a highly reflective foiled finish, often used as part of layering on your card front or die-cutting

  • Mirri Mats – Mirri card cut to a specific size to co-ordinate with a product that allows you to mat & layer a sheet from a Little Book, DL Paper Pad, Topper Deck or Picture Perfect Pad, to create a decorative Mirri frame

  • Moonstone Dies – our brand of high quality, metal cutting dies featuring a huge variety of designs and sizes to create cards, embellishments, frames, sentiments and much more

  • Mylar – a polyester film used for its durability and transparency

  • Paper Trimmer – a cutting tool used to create a straight cut edge, for cutting one or several sheets of paper at a time

  • Parchment Paper – also known as vellum, is a semi-translucent medium used to add a softer look to cards, create embellishments, used in parchment craft with embossing and general card making

  • Photopolymer Stamps – holds ink better for a crisper, cleaner image – are clear allowing for more accurate placement when stamping

  • Pigment Based Ink Pad – ink pads feature high amounts of pigment suspended in a liquid, these are slow-drying as the ink sits on top of the paper

  • Prism Brush Markers – water-based colouring medium, colours can be blended on cardstock or on an acrylic block or glass mat, with a waterbrush or paintbrush

  • Prism Glimmer Mist – high pigment mica powder suspended in a water-based solution, in handy spray bottles – water soluble and can be mixed together, they work on a variety of materials from paper to wood, clay, canvas and fabric.

  • Prism Ink Pads – a dye-based ink pad that is non-toxic and acid free, available in over 30 colours

  • Quilling a form of art created by rolling/shaping strips of paper to create decorative designs and images
  • Rocker Card – a type of card with a rounded base that allows the card to rock when nudged

  • Rubber Stamps – an image or pattern that has been carved, molded, laser engraved or vulcanised onto a sheet of rubber

  • Scoreboard – a crafting platform with grooves inlaid into the base along with measurements, run a bone-tool/scoring tool over card/paper, on this to create a clean score for card blanks, box making and more

  • Self-Healing Cutting Mat – a craft mat with a surface made from tiny individual pieces that allow cutting tools to move between them, not cutting the surface as a whole, keeping the mat intact

  • Sentiments – a word or phrase relevant to an occasion or recipient, used to personalise cards and projects, can be found in dies, stamps and papercraft elements

  • Stamping Platform – also known as a Stamping Press, this tool is a platform with a clear lid which a stamp can be applied to, to create a clean stamped image when the lid is closed

  • Stencils – is a piece of medium like plastic with a design cut out of it, to re-create the design by applying ink or mixed media through the holes in the stencil

  • Stepper Card – a type of card that features several folds to create a step look when standing

  • Topper – this is anything used as the main element of your card and is usually the top layer

  • Topper Deck – our branded product, Topper Decks are a box containing 54 Card Toppers in a handy 2.5” x 3.5” size, available in a variety of themes

  • Topper Set – Includes an A4 foiled & die-cut Topper sheet, plus 2 co-ordinating cardstock sheets that can be used as Card Blanks or as part of matting & layering

  • Topper Sheet – A4 sheet of foiled and die-cut elements perfect as Toppers for your cards and often include embellishing elements

  • USB Keys – a USB flash drive that stores data for use with computers, our Hunkydory@Home USB Keys feature a variety of digital copies of our papercraft collections for printing out

  • Vellum - also known as parchment, is a semi-translucent medium used to add a softer look to cards, create embellishments, used in parchment craft with embossing and general card making
  • Waterbrush – a brush-ended tool that can be filled with water to use for blending or painting

  • Watercolour Pencils – pencils containing a rich pigment that when mixed with water, can be blended to create a watercolour effect

  • Whopper Topper Pads – our branded A5 paper pads featuring large sized Toppers, sentiments and borders on each page; contains 40 cards with Toppers in a variety of shapes and designs

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