Wow, wow, wow!!! Evernote, the electronic notebook app, has saved me. I now know exactly what I have in my crafting inventory and where it is! No more buying duplicates or hunting through my stash for that perfect butterfly stamp.
Trying to build an inventory of an ever growing stash of arts and craft items can be overwhelming. The paper binder method is labor intensive, makes it difficult to organize items into multiple categories, and may involve significant rework when it needs updating. Also, it is cumbersome to carry the binders with you, such as when you go shopping.
An alternative approach is to use a software app, such as Evernote, to manage your crafting inventory digitally stored in an online database. Evernote is a cross-platform app designed for note taking, organizing, and archiving. It can be installed on a tablet, smartphone, and/or a computer.
Benefits of using a digital inventory solution
1. Ready access to your inventory information wherever you are
2. Quickly see a list of items, including a thumbnail image
3. Organize items in different ways with a single entry
4. Easily find items using various search methods such as via item groups, via assigned keywords, or via free form text lookup
5. Help to prevent you from buying duplicates of things you already own
6. Help to determine if you already have something similar before making a purchase
I started loading my crafting inventory into Evernote back in September 2017. It took me about 2 months to get my basic inventory items (stamps, dies, and embossing folders) loaded with usage notes, sample images, and categorized for easy lookup. A little over two years later (as of Dec 31 2019), I now have over 1,750 entries (Notes) in Evernote. It is loaded with my entire craft room inventory, including stamps, dies, embossing folders, stencils, punches, paper pads, inks/paints, pens/pencils/markers, embellishments, adhesives & mediums, tools, all my storage & organization items, and so much more, like checklists, tips, techniques, and project recipes.
Attached is a downloadable guidelines handout (PDF file) I created to help others get started using Evernote.
I would love to know if you found this handout useful. Please comment below with your feedback or if you have any questions. Thanks!
I keep thinking I ought to inventory, and then don’t. I might enjoy having a paper inventory more than on line, given that paper crafting is my wonderful non-computer activity. But I ought to at least look further into Evernote, so thank you for the post.
This looks like a great companion to the video I watched from 2017. Thanks so much for making a physical paper document I can print and refer back to! I tend to loose track of where I saved videos. LOL! I’m going to give Evernote a try. I love that I can visually see what my stamps and dies look like when searching for a heart, or a bunny, etc.
Thank you for your feedback. I love my Evernote inventory solution and do not know what I would do without it!