Has anyone ever put a Portfolio together?

[kastel]

I'm wondering if anyone out there has ever put a 'portfolio' of sorts together to show items that they make? I'm toying with the idea and would love to hear imput or suggestions....

Thanks!
Tiffany

[Boss]

I don't know if what I do would really qualify as a portfolio, it's more of a photo diary of my cardmaking. I make a photocopy of every card I send out and make a note of when it was sent, to whom it was sent and for what occasion, I will also photocopy what greeting was on the inside (I make my own "insides" on the computer so that they are like store bought cards.) I put the photocopy of the card in sheet protector (actually, I usually have 2 cards on each photocopy and 2 sheets in the protector back to back) and then it goes into a 3 ring binder that is dated by year.

This has been a really valuable tool for me because I am able to look back according to the month/year and see what card I sent to someone for their birthday and what the inside greeting was. It also is an accurate record of cards that I've made and if I want to recreate the card I can go to the notebook and figure out the colors, papers and techniques that I used.

Hope you get some more ideas!

[Sereikastamper]

Hey Tiffany,

First what would you want to build the portfolio for? Is it going to be online or an actual hard copy....

Typically when building a portfolio you would want to tailor it to your specific reason for building it. Say if you are trying to keep a journal of your work and how it has progressed....then you just want to keep it in chronological order...but if you are building it for a reason such as to show to potential employers, you may want to categorize it differently...

[jutta]

That's a really nifty portfolio idea! I wish I had done something like that as I tend to make duplicates of things and end up wondering to whom I've sent it. Also, I tend to forget what I've done as I send them all out. Sometimes I impress myself (!) with what I come up with, but then when I send it out, the inspiration is gone, so keeping a record would be a super idea.

Jutta

[craftyc]

I keep two kinds of portfolios:

One on my computer....I have folders for everyone I send cards to and everytime I make a card, I scan it and put it in the appropriate folder...this way I don't send duplicates to the same person.

One hard copy...when I can, I make a second card and place it in a binder that has Polaroid photo pages I get from Century Photo. Each photo page holds 8 A-2 cards.

[kastel]

I was thinking of using it as a way to show potential customers what I can make for them. I guess it would be more of a selling tool instead of an inventory.
I'm trying to branch out and start selling handmade items and can use any help/suggestions I can get

THanks!
Tiffany

[Sereikastamper]

Then I would probably do it in sections...as in art styles, color combos etc...so you can give them a cohesive idea of what you are capable of and what your style is.