Guide to Cataloging Your Crafts

How many times have you decided to do a favorite craft from years past only to end up spending a lot of time gathering patterns and materials and finally quitting out of frustration? There is a way to keep up with what you have done in the past with easy references that will serve as a the ultimate catalog of your efforts. This catalog, or portfolio if you will, can be accomplished without a major investment in time or money.

First, identify your crafting style. Do you have an area in your home set aside for just your crafting? Do you work on your crafting in all areas of the house? Do you have an off-site studio such as a ceramic studio? Do you craft in only one genre (say only leather tooling) or many genres. I am a 'bagger' which means I am working on multiple projects at all times and each one is kept in it's own bag or satchel. My crafting endeavors run from thread arts to clay to jewelry to marbleized paper - whatever my creative vein draws me to at any given time. What I end up with, after the projects are over, are multiple containers with the remnants of the projects together, but not easily found or identified

Next, decide what type of portfolio is best for your particular crafting style. If your crafting is all in the same genre, say the thread arts, everything can be compartmentalized more easily. If you run the gamut of crafts, there is a need for more versatility. But the goal for all crafter types is to get all of your information in one place where it can be found at your whim.

Then, purchase the elements of your portfolio. Based on your crafting genre, you will need a binding system (a 3-ring binder?), a way to showcase your completed project (pictures in clear photo sheets?) and a place to hold all of the information required to complete each project. Using crocheting as an example, a 2 inch 3-ring binder with photo sheets and zip-lock bags would be appropriate. I always prefer the 2 inch binder since a 3 inch binder can be quite cumbersome.

Finally, put it all together. It is best to start with the current project and work forward and backward. If you are currently working on crocheting a doily, think about all of the elements of that project. In this case, all of the information you need about this project is with the pattern. If, however, you changed it up in any way, maybe trimmed it in a metallic thread, or added beading, or used a different sized thread or hook, this is where the portfolio with be valuable in the future.

So start with your current project and take a picture, place it in a clear-view photo sheet in a 3-ring binder. Take a 4 mil. zip-lock bag and punch it for the 3-ring binder. Enclose the pattern for the project, any specific thread labels, any changes you have made to the pattern, and any notes you might have for the next time you do this project. If the photo sheet has 6 pockets, put the next project photo in place in another one of the pockets and your zip-lock bag behind the first bag. In this way, you will have one photo sheet with six pictures of six projects behind it. You may also want to take multiple photos of the same project (front, back, side, etc.) and place them all in the photo sheet. In that case, one photo sheet per project bag would be needed.

Another example: A stamper could use a clear-view trading card sheet holding their ATCs (artist trading cards). The back of the ATC could contain the date, the name of the stamp, any special technique or equipment that was used, the color of the ink, and any special instructions. No zip-lock bags would be necessary, however, the bags could be used to hold paper to be used for the next project. The ATCs could be used like a catalog to shop through for ideas, paper, techniques or colors for future endeavors.

Catalog projects from the past, to the best of your ability, as you run across them in your storage. Soon your portfolio will be complete and the endless hours of searching for past projects will be a thing of the past