Hand made art portfolio

I've been looking at art portfolio's to hold some of my art work that I've either finished or in process of completing. Most of the portfolio's I seen are your standard black covers and range in price from $15 to $50. So I thought I try making my own art portfolio in a size that would hold my 9" x 12" pieces.

Basically I cut down 2 pieces of illustration board to the size I wanted my portfolio . Then I picked out some really pretty Japanese hand made paper from Paper-Source. I applied the paper to the front of the illustration board with bookbinding glue. I sandwiched the boards between wax paper and then placed heavy books on top to allow the glue to set and my pieces dry flat. I let the glue set over night. Once the glue has completely dried, I turn over the piece and attach my ribbon on 3 sides. Next I apply board cloth in a matching color with glue and place the piece between wax paper to dry over night. Once the board cloth is dry, I applied 3" strips of board cloth tape to attach the two pieces together and apply inside the middle and the outside middle. Finally I sandwich the completed art portfolio between wax paper and put a ton of books on top and allow the glue to dry.

It might sound like it was labor intensive, but it wasn't. It was just a matter allowing the glue to dry between each steps.