Showcasing Your Work

Showcasing yourself and work is what this site is mainly about.

What is Showcasing?
At the moment it is utilizing your page, where you can talk about yourself, start a blog, interact with other members, and upload photos or videos of your work with good descriptive titles etc.

We are currently working on the ability to have more specific showcasing features on our home page, in addition to your profile photo and photos from the gallery being shown. But this is still being worked on so I can't give you too much info about it other than we will be choosing a single photo from everyones collection to be included, and there will be a way for you to have other photos showcased there as well. I know, a bit vague, but I am sure you will love it.

What should you Showcase?
Basically, yourself and your work, not someone else's. Anything from an embroidered pillowcase to a finished quilt.

Why Showcase?
This is a difficult question. The answer is different for all of us. It really comes down to what is important to you. Here are a few reasons that may apply to you -

• for fun (my favorite)
• to share experiences
• to demonstrate skills
• to invite feedback for self improvement
• to help others with inspiration and knowledge through example
• to promote yourself (especially if you sell your pieces)
• to be part of the community
• or maybe just to show off

Does it matter why? No, I don't believe so.

How do I Showcase?
You showcase yourself by customizing your page with text and images. We suggest you make your page more personal. Include photos of yourself, maybe your work area and so on. Add Information about yourself that you are happy to make public.

You showcase your work and talents by uploading photos and videos of your work. We prefer that the photos you upload to the main Photos area are limited to your work. Add more personal images to your page.

You further showcase yourself through regular interaction on Stitcher's Showcase, through comments, activity on the forum, groups and so on. The more active you are the more interest you generate in yourself and your work, and the more people want to know.

Relevant tutorials you should review to get the best out of Stitcher's Showcase -
About Your Page and Photos
There is one thing that you should be aware of - if people can't find your work it doesn't matter how good you are, nobody will know about it.

Here are a few things about showcasing your work you should be aware of.

The main way people find you or your work is through the Search function. People search using words that describe their interests. The search function then uses these words and looks at the item title, description and, more importantly, the tags you have provided. If you don't pay attention to these few things you reduce the chance that people will find your work.

Once found you will want them to remember your work and be impressed, or at least interested. If they want to find it again then something needs to stick in their memory that they can search on again.

Now don't take this all too seriously, as the main thing is to have fun, but if you are concerned about being found and remembered then here are a few suggestions -

• Your profile photo should be something that gets people interested. I suggest a photo of yourself, but if not try to pick something that best represents you as a person or your style of work.
• Your page should include information about yourself that will be of interest to others. Tell us about why you do what you do, how you started, what you aspire to do in the future. If you have a website be sure to include it in your profile settings. A little personal information is great and that way we know you are a real person and will want to know you better. DO NOT include specific information about address, phone number etc. If you want to pass that on to others you can do that through our private messaging system.
  
• The photos of your work should be as clear as possible. Focus on your work, not the background. Don't photograph from too far away or too close. To close shows up fine detail and this can be distracting. Too far away and you lose detail. Photography is an art. The best advice is to look at what others have done and keep practicing.
• Title your work appropriately. It doesn't have to be long or that descriptive, just catchy and maybe a little descriptive. The default title will be the filename for the image and generally is not suitable. Remember, this is the first thing people will read about your work.
• Describe your work including details about the materials you have used, what use the piece is intended for and maybe some words about your inspiration, techniques used and so on. This is your time to connect with others. They don't know why you created this piece, and techniques may not be obvious, so tell them. For the Search function consider what you may search on and you will be on the right track. Make this interesting but not wordy. Too long and you lose peoples attention.
• Tags are without a doubt the most important thing when it comes to search. You MUST add tags. Add all the words that describe your work. The materials, the style, the color and so on. It is important to use good specific tags if possible. Using just the word 'stitch' or 'quilt' is really not enough. Most people will use additional words such as 'cross stitch' or 'patchwork quilt' in their searches.

• Showcase, showcase and showcase. The best advice is to showcase your work the best way you can. If the photograph is not perfect, or you can't think of a great title, or have trouble with the description and tags, you should still showcase. Don't doubt yourself. Give it a go.
  

If you don't showcase, you will never be found.