Canadian Craft Glossary
Decode Craft jargon with this regularly updated Canadian Craft glossary. The Canadian Craft Glossary lists common craft words, acronyms and phrases. Did you see an error or have a suggestion to add? Please, send us a message.
Craft Glossary: A
Academic
Relating to education and scholarship
Accelerator
An additive to speed up the chemical reaction between the catalyst and resin
Aesthetic
A particular approach to something is pleasing to the eyes
Affiliates
An affiliate is a subordinate group or organization associated with a larger group or organization
Antique Glass
Also known as “mouth-blown glass,” this type of glass is made at the end of a blowpipe in accordance with historic glass manufacturing processes
Appliqué
Cut-out elements that are added to a sewing project to give added dimension or interest
Appropriation
A strategy used by artist who intentionally borrow, copy, and alter existing images and objects
Archival
A permanent and durable material
Artisan
A worker in a skilled trade, especially one that involves making things by hand such as carpentry, leather crafting, jewelry making, and many more
Artist
A person who creates art that can be a painting, sculpture, music, or writing
Artist’s Book
A medium of artistic expression that uses the form or function of the book as inspiration
Artist-Run Centres (ARCs)
Non-profit organizations governed by a majority of artists, dedicated to providing alternative venues to the established art gallery system, supporting the production of new and innovative artistic forms and methods, and facilitating peer-to-peer networking
Craft Glossary: B
Baguette
A thin, long gemstone normally cut with just 14 to 18 parallel facets
Basketry
The art of making baskets with interwoven materials like wicker, wood, grass, bamboo etc.
Batik
A textile design technique using wax as a resist against coloured dyes
Batting
The material used between the quilt top and backing
Beadwork
The use of beads in decoration; beads may be individually stitched, applied in threaded lengths, or woven into the weft of the material. Beading has a very long artistic and cultural history among the Indigenous people in Canada
Bias
Any diagonal line between the crosswise or lengthwise grain line in woven fabric
Biscuit
A small wafer of wood that is inserted and glued to an edge groove between two pieces of wood to be joined
Bleeding
Refers to ink or marker seeping through the backside and sometimes to the next sheet of paper
Blowpipe
Refers to an iron or steel tube, usually four to five feet long, used to blow a bubble of air into a gather of molten glass
Braising
A metal-joining process in which two or more metal items are joined together by melting and flowing a filler metal into the joint to form a strong load-bearing joint
Craft Glossary: C
Canework
In glassblowing, cane are coloured lengths of glass made by stretching molten glass into a long rod. Once cane has been produced, it can be used to make patterns in glass vessels, beads, small sculptural objects, and other artistic creations
CARFAC
Canadian Artists’ Representation/Front des Artistes Canadiens
Casting
Making a mould of a form then using it by pouring liquid material into the mould
CCBC
Craft Council of British Columbia
CCF/FCMA
Acronym for the Canadian Craft Federation/Federation Canadienne des Metiers d’Art
Ceramic
Made of clay and hardened by heat
CERF+
Craft Emergency Relief Fund and Artist Emergency Resources
Chiaroscuro
A manipulation of light and shadow to add life and three-dimension to their images
Chin-colle
A process that introduces colour and texture into an etching without having to prepare and print additional plates
Citizens of Craft
A movement of makers, of appreciators, of shoppers, of admirers – of anyone whose values match our values of heritage, innovation, the leading edge, traditional, authentic, and entrepreneurial
Cleavage
The ability of a rock mass to break along glat planar surface or certain lines of weakness in the structure of the rock’s crystal lattice
CMAQ
Acronym for the Conseil des Metiers d’Art du Quebec
CoC
Acronym for Citizens of Craft
Coldwork
Any process that alters the state of the glass without using heat. Commonly used cold work techniques include sandblasting, engraving, cutting, polishing, painting, and bonding
Collaborate
To work together with someone else for a particular purpose
Colour Family
A collection of the tones and shades that make up a colour
Compatible
Material that can be fused together without excessive residual stress
Couching
An embroidery technique in which strips of fabric, string etc are stitched onto the piece of work. The end result produces a ‘zipped’ effect
CPAMO
Acronym for Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Movement Ontario
Craft
An activity involving skill and creating things by hand
Craft Industry
Goods that re handmade by artisans or those skilled in a particular trade
Craft Production
Manufacturing by hand
Craft Retail
Retail businesses such as galleries, craft store, online shop or boutique
Crafters
A person who has a hobby or small business of hand crafted items
Craftsmanship
A skill that has been acquired in a particular craft
Craftspeople
A person skilled in a particular craft
Creations
A thing that has been made
Crochet
A soft craft that uses a small hook to interlock loops of yarn together to create blankets, toys, jewellery and more
Cross Stitch
A type of counted embroidery that uses small crosses or ‘x’s to create a tiled pattern or design
Culture Appropriation
When a dominant culture uses the culture elements of a minority group outside of their original culture content
Curator
A person whose manages a collection and organize exhibitions
Cure Time
The length of time it takes for the material (resin or silicone) to completely set or harden
Craft Glossary: D, E, F
Dalle de Verre
From French: “glass slab,” this is a glass art technique of sawing or breaking thick coloured slabs of glass and setting them in liquid cement, epoxy, or other supporting materials
Debossing
The process of lowering an area of paper
Die-cutting
A technique where metal dies are used in a manual or electronic machine to cut words, shapes and designs into a range of materials, including card, fabric, foil and more
Distress
A technique that is used to make a project look antiquated, or vintage
Drag
Refers to the weight of a quilt pulling while sewing
Earthenware
Sometimes known as terracotta, a fine-grained clay body fired at low temperatures, resulting in pottery that is slightly porous and coarser than stoneware and porcelain. It can be made impervious to liquids with glaze
Embellishment
An additional decorative element added to a project to finish it off
Embossing
The process of raising an area of paper
Embroidery
The craft of decorating fabric with thread using a needle
Enamelling
A technique in which powdered glass is fused to a metal, glass, or ceramic base in the heat of a kiln to create glossy, vividly coloured metal objects
Exhibitions
A public display of works of art
Felting
The process of separating and relocking the fibres in yarn or wool, most commonly through needle felting—matting wool with a barbed or notched needle—and wet felting—combining fibres with agitation, soap, and water
Fibre
A natural or synthetic structure that is significantly longer than it is wide
Findings
Small jewellery making components
Float Glass
A type of sheet glass produced by floating molten glass in a bath of liquid metal of a low melting point, typically tin
Craft Glossary: G, H, I
Gaffer
The head glassblower in charge of a chair, or team, of hot-glass workers
Gallery
A room or building for the display or sale ow works of art
Glass
A substance made by fusing sand with soda, lime and sometimes other ingredients
Glass Fusing
The process of joining compatible sheet glasses together in a kiln to fabricate plates, tiles, bowls, jewelry, wall hangings, and other artistic creations
Glaze
A vitreous substance fused on to the surface of pottery to form a hard, impervious coating
Goldsmith
A person who makes objects from gold
Hand Building
A ceramics technique that allows artists to create forms with clay using their hands and other tools, but without the use of a throwing wheel
Handcraft
Something made with skill by hand
Handicrafts
Decorative objects made by skilled hands
Hard Crafts
Non-textile based crafts, for example papercrafts (including cardmaking, scrapbooking, book-making, etc), mixed media, polymer clay, beading, woodwork, etc.
Hardy
A blacksmithing chisel that has a square shank, which prevents it from rotating when placed in the anvil’s hardy hole. It is used with a hand hammer for cutting both hot and cold metal
Hide
An animal skin treated for human use through stretching, drying, and tanning. Indigenous people across Turtle Island have developed processes of making animal hides into wearable leather for clothing, shelter, and ceremony over generations
Hot Shop
A glassblower’s studio with the equipment necessary to physically work with glass in its molten state
HTV
Heat Transfer Vinyl
ICCA
Indigenous Curatorial Collective / Collectif des commissaires autochtones
Installation
Large-scale, three-dimensional constructions, often designed to transform specific spaces
Interfacing
A layer of material used to stabilize the fabric. Interfacing can be woven or non-woven, fusible or sew in and is available in various weights and thicknesses depending on its intended use
Craft Glossary: J, K, L, M
Jacquard Loom
A loom originally controlled by a chain of punched cards laced together into continuous sequences to create intricate designs in fabric. In today’s Jacquard weaving, punch cards have evolved into electronic files
Juried vs. Non-Juried
A juried exhibition, sale, or show requires potential artists to submit images or samples and information about the work they hope to display or sell to a selecting jury. A non-juried show allows artists to apply without having to present their work in advance, often on a first-come, first-serve basis
Knitting
A craft where loops of yarn (“stitches”) are created in a line, using two long needles, or a knitting machine
Lampwork
Also called “flameworking,” this type of glasswork uses a torch to melt and shape glass
Lapidary
A person, or the craft, of cutting, grinding, shaping, or polishing stones, semi-precious stones, or gemstones
Loom
A frame or machine for making cloth by weaving two or more sets of threads or yarns
Lost Wax Casting
Also known as “investment casting,” this is the process by which an object is cast from a wax model. Lost wax casting involves building a mold around a sacrificial wax model. After the mold investment is set, the wax is melted out and forms a cavity where the metal or glass flows in
Manifesto
A written statement declaring publicly the intentions, motives, or views of its issuer
Market
To advertise or promote something
Marquise
A cut oval gemstone which tapers to a point at both ends
Matrix
The physical surface which the artist manipulates to hold ink, which is then transferred to paper or other materials like blocks of wood or plexiglass
Members
Belonging to a group or organization
Metal Work
The activity of making items with metal
Mill Scale
The bluish-black flaky surface formed on the outer surfaces of plates or sheets of hot rolled steel
Miniature
A small-scale reproduction of something typically much larger
Mixed Media
A form of artwork or crafting where multiple mediums are used, for example, paper and fabric
MMAQ
Maison des Metiers d’Arts de Quebec
Mordant
For dyeing fabrics by forming a coordination complex with the dye, which then attaches to the fabric
Mosaic
A pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of coloured stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar and covering a surface
MUMAQ
Musee des Metiers d’Art du Quebec
Murrine
An Italian term for coloured patterns or images made in glass cane that are revealed when cut in cross-sections
Negative Space
The empty or open space between, within and surrounding an object that defines it
Nivingajuliat
A form of appliqué Inuit wall-hanging that developed in Qamani’tuaq (Baker Lake), Nunavut in the 1960s
Craft Glossary: O, P, Q, R
Octopus Bag
Named for their distinctive shape, also called “Fire bags” and “Many legs bags.” Popularized by Anishinaabe people in the Western Great Lakes region, these highly decorated, beaded, and tufted case-skin bags are also made by the Nahkawininiwak, Métis, and Plains Indigenous peoples and are found across many Indigenous nations
Papier-mâché
This paper and glue technique used for shaping everything from animals to planets
Parfleche
Lightweight carrying bags and containers made of rawhide by various Plains Indigenous peoples. Colourful and beautifully decorated with a distinctive style of painted designs, parfleche is considered as much a piece of art as a practical tool
Pâte de Verre
From the French, “paste of glass,” a technique of pressing ground glass powders or frits into a mold and fusing them in the kiln into a desired shape
Platform A
Means to communicate ideas or information to a group of people
Podcast
A digital audio file available on the internet for downloading to a computer or mobile device
Porcelain
A high-firing, fine-grained white clay body that fires to a durable, strong, vitreous ceramic. It is usually pure white because of its high kaolin content
Pottery
The making of clay objects by hand
Pounce
A chalk bag that can be patted over a stencil to quickly and accurately transfer a pattern to fabric
Public Art
Any works of art installed in a public area, whether outdoors or indoors. Usually, but not always, it is commissioned specifically for the site in which it is situated and can include murals, sculpture, monuments, community art, digital new media, and even performance
Pug mill
The potter’s solution for transforming clay scraps into workable clay
Punch
A hard metal object with a sharp tip and a blunt butt end, which is usually stuck by a hammer
Pyrography
Writing with fire or heated tools onto leather or wood
Quillwork
A type of decoration using softened and dyed porcupine quills. Quillwork has been practiced for centuries in many parts of Turtle Island, most notably by the Dene people
Quilting
A form of patchwork where multiple pieces of fabric are sewn together, with quilt padding in between, to create a quilt
Quilting Squares
Small squares of fabric to join together in the making of a quilt
Rag Hooking
The art of making a rug by pulling loops of yarn or fabric through a stiff woven base such as burlap, linen, or rug warp
Raku
A ceramics technique that has evolved from ancient Japanese pottery. Raku pottery is removed from the kiln while it is still in fusion and then is cooled extremely fast, sometimes by plunging a ware into water, sometimes by cooling it naturally in the air, and sometimes by plunging it into some combustible material such as paper, straw or sawdust, reducing oxygen and creating spectacular colours
Rasp
A craftsperson’s tool with a long blade covered with rows of sharp points for scraping, filing, or rubbing down objects of metal, wood or other hard materials that create a smooth surface
Recto
It is the right hand page in a book and is usually numbered with and odd page number.
Riveting
A durable and decorative technique using a cold connection method that secures laters of varied mediums such as metal, leathers and fabrics using a “rivet” along with special tools ans the application of force creating a permanent fastening
RJA
Robert Jekyll Award
Roving
Wool fiber that has been processed but not spun into yarn as of yet
Craft Glossary: S, T, U
Saponification
The process of soap making
SCC
Saskatchewan Craft Council
Sconces
A wall-mounted candle holder or light fixture
Screen Printing
Transferring images by filtering paint or ink through patterned and layered screens onto fabric, canvas or other surfaces
Sculptural
Items made by shaping a material such as wood, clay, metal, or stone
Skein
A length of thread or yearn wrapped/coiled around itself
Slumping
A kilnforming process that uses heat and gravity to transform sheet glass into the shape of a mould
Soapstone
A metamorphic rock composed primarily of talc carved by Northern Indigenous communities into tools and decorative sculptures for over 7,500 years. Today, the term “soapstone carving” is often used to refer to sculptures carved from soapstone as well as other soft, compact carving mediums, including serpentine
Spray Paint
Paint that is contained in an aerosol can for the purpose of spraying onto a surface
Stoneware
A mid- or high-firing coarse-grained clay body that can be anywhere between buff colour to gray to dark brown, because of varying levels of iron and other impurities
Tapestry
A piece of thick cloth with a pattern or picture that is formed by weaving or embroidery, traditionally used as a wall hanging or furniture covering
Textiles
Types of cloth or woven fabric
The Craft Spectrum
Craft exists on a spectrum that encompasses disciplines, materials, tools, and cultures
Tradecraft
The skills learned from experience in a trade
Trades
Buying and selling goods and services OR a skilled job, typically one requiring manual skills and special training
Tufting
A type of textile art in which a thread or hair is inserted on a backing material. Indigenous people—including the Dene, Cree, and Métis—have developed distinct forms of decorative tufting using small bunches of dyed animal hair to create sculpted designs
UFO
Abbreviation of unfinished object
Craft Glossary: V, W, X, Y
VAA/AAV
Visual Arts Alliance/Alliance pour les Arts Visuels
Veneer
This sheets of wood or other material (brass, mother-of-pearl, etc.) used for marquetry
Verso
Which is the left hand page in a book that is usually numbered with an even page number
Warp or Weft
These two terms refer to the directionality of the threads that make up a woven fabric. Warp threads run vertically, whereas warp threads run horizontally
WCC
World Crafts Council
WCCNA
World Craft Council North American Region
Weaving
The craft or action of forming fabric by interlacing threads
Wheel Throwing
The technique of shaping ceramics on a potter’s wheel. The wheel turns constantly, triggered by the potter’s foot, a motor, or the help of collaborators, rotating the clay as the potter shapes it with both hands
Wholesale
The selling of goods in large quantities to be retailed or sold to the public by others
WIP
Acronym for work in progress
Wood Carving
The skill of carving wood to make functional or ornamental objects
Woodcraft
Skill in working with wood
Woodworking
The skill of making things from wood
Wool
A fibre that originates from animals, mostly commonly the fleece of sheep. Wool is the raw material that can be spun into a type of yarn which can be used in knitting, crocheting, weaving, etc.
Workshop
A seminar or a discussion group that emphasizes the exchange of ideas and the demonstration of techniques and skills
Xylopolist
The old formal name for a timber merchant
Yarn
A length of natural or synthetic fibre used to create fabric