i'm not sure if i agree with the no pop-up suggestion....they're not ads.
i like your work, although as a professional, if you want to be taken seriously, as a designer, sigs, avatars, and photo manipulation shouldn't even be in your portfolio. why? sigs and avatars are not presented as professional work, which a portfolio should be. and, as a designer, it's a given that you can do photo manipulation.
like i said before, good work...i'm a designer myself or i'd consider using you as a subcontractor. good luck.