SAVE TIME & MONEY with a crafty inventory system!

AS OF DECEMBER 4, 2023, EVERNOTE FREE LIMITS YOU TO 50 NOTES IN ONE NOTEBOOK. TO USE IT AS SHOWN IN THIS VIDEO, CURRENT PRICING FOR 'PERSONAL' PLAN IS $17.99/MONTH.

Here's how I use Evernote to help me spend less time searching and more time creating!

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[eileencervi]

I started my notebook this past weekend using this system. It was so much fun and now I have a handle on what I actually have! I have a huge sense of relief as now I will hopefully never order something I already have (done this twice!!) and revisiting the websites to get a picture has inspired me to go back and use what I have and spurred my creativity. Thank you so much for sharing! ♥️

[maiafelidae]

I have all my craft stash catalogued in Evernote. I love it. I believe the most crucial feature is the tagging. I use words only in singular and have added suffixes to discriminate dies, punches and embossing folders. For example, if I need a butterfly die, I use the tag butterfly-d, and this will bring up only the dies and not everything related to butterflies. Embossing folders would be butterfly-ef and punches butterfly-p. Hope this is useful. 😊

[corinne]

I’ve been using Evernote for a couple of years - a couple of tweeks I use: as you mentioned Evernote will ocr a lot of the sentiments so they can be searched on but especially scripts/ornate sentiments won’t be recognized so I will type the sentiments out down below the picture in the note so they are found in a search. I often have a sentiment in mind when making a card and I want to be able to easily find the specific sentiment I want ex: I want a sentiment about shining bright, I can just search for those words and find all stamps or dies with sentiments that have those words including very ornate ones that the ocr won’t recognize. Also, I include tags for general sentiment sizes - ex. Sentiment-XL, Sentiment-L, Sentiment-XS etc. so if say I am looking for Merry Christmas but I need a really small one to fit a small spot I can search on Merry Christmas and the tag Sentiment-S. Sentiments were always the most frustrating for me because I would know what I wanted but would have trouble finding what I was thinking of so I made a point to address that in a Evernote.

[andrealampert]

I've been using Evernote to keep track of my stamp sets for years. I agree with everything you said, Ardyth. The free version is perfect for this. It has kept me from purchasing duplicates, and it helps me to find sets that I have forgotten about, when I enter a search for something. I highly recommend it. Thanks for your videos!

[rurepeattoo]

Your videos are engaging, entertaining and educational!! Thank you for sharing your passion.

[kristinelouisag]

I started using Evernote years ago for work, family history, menu planning, household maintenance, keeping lists of gifts given and received, Christmas ideas, etc, Then I started stamping and began inventorying my craft stash! I have notebooks for embossing powders, folders, stamps, dies, inks & refills (by brand), . and even a miscellaneous supplies notebook listing all the odds and ends. I have a huge paper stash as my daughter was a designer for Basic Grey, American Crafts, and some other paper companies, and I collected virtually everything she designed, but I could never find what I needed. I put all my paper pads into Evernote and where they are stashed in my Expedit! I use the Evernote clipper and usually clip the entire page of product info, which often has several card samples of how to use the stamp or die. I clip blog posts I love and keep them in a notebook I call Card Ideas. I create a tag for most of the sentiments on any stamp so if I'm looking for a specific sentiment I can find it. Every time I buy anything I immediately clip it with Evernote web clipper. I have set up my "inbox" as my default notebook so I know anything in there has to be tagged and moved to the proper notebook when I have time. I love your idea of adding "large" or the size because that would help me remember which sets are not stored with the smaller stamp sets. I'm going to take some time and add that into the titles! This system makes it so easy to find a specific stamp set or to find a stamp set with the images or sentiments I'm looking for. Sorry for the lengthy comment, but maybe it will help someone else see how useful Evernote is for keeping track of everything! Thanks for sharing this!

[CraftystuffbyStacey]

OMG! Game Changer! Thanks for sharing! I've been looking for something like this.☮💜🌞

[UsernameBarbF]

Thank you for such great tips! I too keep an inventory of all my stamps and dies but I did it in Word--I'd never heard of Evernote until now. I had to do this due to a brain injury I suffered in a car accident which pretty much destroyed my memory. I started my inventory by taking all my stamps and dies out to my living room and then sorting them into stacks on the floor as though I were playing Solitaire. Again, because of my brain injury, I needed to make this as simple as possible and I did that by sorting my stacks by "first gut reaction, " while thinking, "where would I look for this." Once I got all my stamps/dies into those piles I looked through the contents of each stack to make sure they were consistent (no birthday stamps with Christmas stamps, etc.).

Then I got out my Post It notes and labeled each stack by theme--no way I could remember a stamp by company (Altenew, My Favorite Things, etc.). That task resulted in my category list, such as "these dies will create action elements so I'll call them Action Element (think of dies like MFT's up & down, or meet in the middle, etc.), Background, Birthday, Border/Edges, Card Bases (think of pop up box base, outside the box base, side step base, etc.), Critters (any set that featured animals--no separate section for owls or turtles, etc.), Floral, Frames, Landscapes, Miscellaneous, Nautical, People, Text, Christmas, Halloween, Karen Burniston, etc. And that resulted in a column in my Word document for those categories (ACT, BKG, BDA, CRD, CRT, FLR, FRM, LND, MIS, NAUT, PPL, TXT, HALL, XMAS, KB).

If you're familiar with Word, you know that you can sort tables by any column so in this way I can sort my table by company, stamp/die title, category. In addition to those things I can search for any word or words. My table is now 38 pages long & no, I don't print it out, I just look things up.

The last major thing was a column for description. In that column I type out a brief description of what's in the set--the elements that I know I'll use or look for. That way, if I want to make a card using a stamp showing a rowboat, I just have to search for the word "rowboat" and every occurrence of that will pop up. I don't have to try to remember the set or the title or the manufacturer. And what I'm looking for is usually those elements in the set that made me "need" to buy it. At the end of the first line of description I type whether it's a stamp or a die or both. This has been a big help when companies put a stamp on sale but not the die or vice versa. I can keep checking the sales offerings to see if I'm waiting for the die (or stamp) that's being offered on sale and buy it at that time.

Once I began storing my stamps in acetate envelopes, I added another column to envelope size category so I'd know which bin to look in (S for the 4.25 x 5", L for 5.25 x 7.25, " XL for 6.5 x 9.5". I got this idea from Jennifer McGuire. Inside this envelope I also keep a note of who I sent this card too because I can't remember that either. And since I can't remember why I bought many sets, I also create a separate Word document with screen captures of the examples shown to sell the stamp and I print it out and stick it in the envelope too. My inspiration images are right there with the set.

When I'm all done logging the new item into my table, I put a sticker on the acetate envelope denoting the category (ACT, BKG, etc.) that way I KNOW it's been logged in. The sticker is because my damaged brain can't remember what category I might have determined it to be--with the sticker I don't have to think twice. I just shove it behind the divider with that sticker title.

My next chore is going to be taking ALL the text stamps off of every single stamp set and grouping them by theme. I'll then be able to look at the TXT section in my bin and glance at every single group of text stamps without having to look through individual envelopes until I find what I want--all the Happy Birthday texts together--same with Merry Christmas, Get Well, Encouragement, Sympathy, Congratulations, etc. I'll put the stamps that don't fit into any specific category into Miscellaneous.

My "good brain" friends are horrified that I go through all this, but I had to either find a way to make this hobby work or not do it at all. It's frustrating enough to figure out which papers I want to use without having to try to remember if I actually own the stamp I'm looking for and if I do, where did I put it or buying a stamp set multiple times.

The takeaway is like you said, each of us has to do what works for us and hearing what others are doing is a big help. My table was my idea, the acetate envelopes weren't, neither were the bins, etc. The reason I wrote this novel to you is that maybe one of your readers has or knows someone who has significant memory issues and maybe my system will help them have faith that a system can be developed for them too for ANYTHING, not just card making., something that will eliminate frustration and help them feel successful again.

Again, thank you so much and I hope my comment is helpful rather than a "yawn" boring novel. ;~)

[beautifulfoodgardeningchan]

Thank you for this idea. I have attention deficit and once I put something "away" I forget where it is, and sometimes that I even have it. This is excellent

[allisathompson]

Excellent video! I had a terrible habit of buying multiples of the same item, so I started using this system about 4 years ago. It was on of the best crafting decisionsI ever made! I also catalog my card stock, ink pads, and reinkers by company; pattern papers; and markers and colored pencils. I keep pictures of my go-to card designs with pictures and measurements, and this has helped when I have crafter’s block. I merged this with the Totally Tiffany method of organizing crafting supplies, and it has been a game changer.

[SharonSuske]

I love using Evernote! One suggestion I would add is to type out sentiments that are in cursive. Evernote will easily find any words in print but not so much with script. It took me months with the free version but even early on, I found it to be incredibly helpful! Lol by the time I had entered the amount I could for the month, I was usually tired anyway 😉 Thanks for a great video (as always!).

[shellidoyle]

This was so helpful!! I feel very overwhelmed. Slow and steady....I HAVE to do this! It is amazing and very helpful! Thank you so much!

[TraceyMcNeely]

Well done, a clear and easy to follow video on Evernote! I bet you have inspired lots of people to join the EN crafty revolution! 😉

[DebTingTing]

I spent two weekends categorizing my supplies using your method. It was time consuming initially, but it has saved me so much more time flipping through my stamps every time I need to find certain images or sentiments! This is the most practical tip ever! Thank you so much!!

[Thereses-Crafty-Cabana]

I found this really helpful! Thank you for sharing your tips on using Evernote.

[colleencornett]

This is a great way to inventory stamps! I will start now and it will be more and more helpful and necessary as my collection grows. Thanks for sharing!

[magsbee]

Love!!! A crafty friend put me on to Evernote and I have never looked back! Invaluable!!!!

[kwsnoopy]

I've been wondering how you actually set this up in Evernote! Thank you for the tutorial! Lots of people recommend it, but this is the first tutorial I've seen on it. Perfect amount of info - not too overwhelming. Just enough to get me excited about it and get me started! Thank you!!

[beckygregory]

Thanks for this video, I have been wondering how to inventory everything. You explained everything so well. I'll try Evernote now because of you!

[bonnieepps]

Sent this to a friend. She taught me card making.