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I use Microsoft's OneNote for my Cricut cartridges. I'm going through and writing down each shape I have and where to find it, so if I need a pair of men's shoes, I can just do a search on "shoe". Time consuming, but worth it. I think if I had more time to play with this program I could do more with it.
My stamps and paper are semi-organized in Microsoft Excel, but moving it all onto Google Docs so it's always "with" me.
My biggest fear is putting everything into a program and then not having it be supported anymore I feel comfortable with the basic Microsoft office programs being supported for the next decade or so. Or at least other programs being able to open them if something happens to Microsoft.
I did start to work on building forms within Excel, but I'm having problems finding the time. Same with Axcess (? is that the Microsoft database system?).
Access was very involved! I'm usually good at picking up programs, but that was tough. It was a few years ago, so maybe the most recent version is easier?
OneNote is very close to Evernote and although quirky, is easier for me than Access.
I love Evernote I have it on a Windows computer on my iPad and on my iPhone, and it syncs to all three I do pay the middle package (plus, not sure if that Plan is still available )
But I think you can have it for free if you just want it on one or two unit, such as your computer and tablet or phone .Basic plan has limited load size per month
I notice for entering information it works a little bit differently on all formats, which I like having the options.
at one time I think if you sign up through someone you both got a premium package for the month
I am SO not a tech person. I try and try but I dont have the aptitude. Like I have NO idea how much memory I would want for this? It will be a lot of stuff.
Gee the idea that I could enter on my computer and access on the phone....so when I am in a store...ooooo. Or I could take pics on my phone and it will be visible on the computer.
I wont be able to start loading till probably after the new year , but I need time to figure it out and then budget for it.
I use One Note and love it, and I usually enter on my PC, then I have it for when I'm out too, on my phone. Wavejumper, theres a whole list here of You Tube videos about One Note, they should help.
But it is really, really simple to use. Because it's synced between your pc and phone/tablet, it's cloud based, so not actually taking up any memory on your phone, you just need Internet access, which most stores etc have these days.
If using your phone beware of data plans as well.
We travel at times, we are out of country, then my data is limited.
With Evernote I download the files to my phone instead so I have the access offline plan, currently Evernote is using 1.67 gb I have just about 2500 notes in there lots are images of stamp set, dies, etc
Plus other non craft items
Can someone explain to me how to add a search tag in OneNote like Evernote? In Evernote when I created a note, I could add word tags for easy searching. For example, for each stamp set I could add word tags like "flower" "heart" "girl" etc. so anything related to that stamp set could be pulled when doing a search. For instance, if I wanted to know all the difference sets I had that contained a heart, I would search "heart" and each stamp set with picture would show up for me to review and then I would have it detailed where to find it. When I watched videos, it seemed like the "tag" feature in OneNote was different or am I just not understanding it? TIA for any help or advice. Also, if there is any other program that would be useful, I'm willing to look into something else but felt this might be around for quite a long time. TIA Tammy
Alright good to know what’s out there, I am an Evernote user and am curious as to the better benefits of Airtable, which I didn’t know existed until this post
I have started using Airtable and so far am finding it a great way to organize my supplies. I am not tech savvy and so far that is the biggest drawback for me. I wish more stampers would make Youtube videos similar to the videos available for Evernote. There are very few stamping videos currently available. I have watched every one I can find and each have helped me a little.
Everything in Airtable can be customized, it is free, it can be used on laptops and phones, you can save a copy of your information, and it seems to be fairly forgiving of low tech dummies. I thought about this for so long before making the plunge, and I think/hope I made the right choice.
Thank you for the feedback. Good to know! I would love to know down the road in a few more months if you feel the same way.
I just down graded my cell program to just call/text to save a chunk of money since I don't use the net on it much. (but now I cant even play a game in the basement laundry room pfft) I assume that would kill my using my phone for this purpose right? But I would still like to know for the house computer. I may change my mind down the road about the phone so it would be good if I can just link up then.
I am afraid I probably can't accurately answer whether you could use your phone or not. Perhaps someone more techie could help you out, or you could ask customer service on Airtable. I have not asked any questions there, but it seems they are very responsive to helping with problems and questions. I do know that your information is placed in cloud based storage so it is not taking up storage space on your phone or computer. I will try to remember to check back and let you know what I think of the app in a few months.
Thank you for the feedback. Good to know! I would love to know down the road in a few more months if you feel the same way.
I just down graded my cell program to just call/text to save a chunk of money since I don't use the net on it much. (but now I cant even play a game in the basement laundry room pfft) I assume that would kill my using my phone for this purpose right? But I would still like to know for the house computer. I may change my mind down the road about the phone so it would be good if I can just link up then.
I use Airtable on both my phone and my computer, but mostly my computer because I hate typing on a phone
The video I posted below on how I set it up shows you the desktop interface, but it's pretty identical on the phone. Sometimes I'll add the names of stamp sets while I'm watching TV and add details later on my computer.
Ooh! That Airtable looks like something I would like. I haven't seen anything...yet...that I would like to work with and that didn't take forever and ever to create the files. I could work directly from what I have in my little binder already.
Do you use the free version, or do you pay for extra features?
I'm using the free version, and so far have not found a reason to purchase anything. It could be that I know so little about what I could do with a more advanced/pay version, that I don't know what I am missing. That being said, I so far have not wished for any features that are not available on the free app. My only wish is that more stampers would make videos explaining what features work for inventorying craft supplies.
hmm...a free version that I could use at home...that sounds pretty nice. Maybe an end to a pile of excel files/maintenance. thanks! I watched that vid Lydia when you first posted it.
I have to think about what it is I want from an inventory system. Like I think I want to know how much a product was, I spent in a year, etc. A financial side. I dont have that now and wish I did.
hmm...a free version that I could use at home...that sounds pretty nice. Maybe an end to a pile of excel files/maintenance. thanks! I watched that vid Lydia when you first posted it.
I have to think about what it is I want from an inventory system. Like I think I want to know how much a product was, I spent in a year, etc. A financial side. I dont have that now and wish I did.
I would say in my video I don't add a date column - DEFINITELY do that.
I do this for work, so I needed the financial thing for an insurance policy and taxes.
I do the paid version because I have people that help me enter things, but you don't need that. I'm not certain at this point what the differences are, but I'm paying for additional users.
Thanks to Lydia, I'm a huge fan of Airtable. You can set it up to include whatever you want. I wanted it for insurance purposes in case of fire; it would be of tremendous help in replacing all your sets that are still available. I added one column for the cost of the stamp set and another for the coordinating dies. And those columns are totaled - which I totally did not need to see. At least my son will be able to see where his inheritance went. :lolo: At the very least, he will realize that this is not just Mom's artsy-fartsy stuff, and hopefully realize it does have some worth.
One of the best aspects of Airtable: I set up a column for sentiments. Now I just search and each set that applies is highlighted. I entered the stamp sets by name, so they're alphabetical. However I store them by theme, so I added a column for the box number where they're located.
It's the best investment of time I've ever put into my studio.
__________________ Linda E
Caution: You are entering an artistic zone. This is not clutter - this is creating. These are not pajamas - it's my work uniform.
I think many things are possible with the program. Please tell me more about your sentiments. I have questions about sentiments. I have a spot to list the sentiment, but then I realized I also need to have a spot where I can do a category search as well. For instance, if I have something that works for sympathy I need to be able to search that category for all of the things that would work for a sympathy card, not just the actual words. Sorry if this is not clear... it is not easy to explain.
One of the things I have not been able to figure out is how to make a list of who I sent what card to, and what stamps I used. For instance, if I sent Jane Doe a birthday, thinking of you, and thank you card, how would I set that up to have a picture of each card and include the other information as well???? I am quite sure it could be done, but just don't have it figured out.
I keep searching Youtube for information, but so far there aren't a lot of crafty users that are posting how they use the program.
Bless you forever, Lydia! I watched your video and have been using Airtable for a couple of days now. It's SO MUCH FASTER than Evernote (for me, anyway), plus I'm with you on how easy it is to customize. I'll be able to eliminate my "full stamp set" reference binder when I'm through! One less thing taking up real estate...
I think many things are possible with the program. Please tell me more about your sentiments. I have questions about sentiments. I have a spot to list the sentiment, but then I realized I also need to have a spot where I can do a category search as well. For instance, if I have something that works for sympathy I need to be able to search that category for all of the things that would work for a sympathy card, not just the actual words. Sorry if this is not clear... it is not easy to explain.
One of the things I have not been able to figure out is how to make a list of who I sent what card to, and what stamps I used. For instance, if I sent Jane Doe a birthday, thinking of you, and thank you card, how would I set that up to have a picture of each card and include the other information as well???? I am quite sure it could be done, but just don't have it figured out.
I keep searching Youtube for information, but so far there aren't a lot of crafty users that are posting how they use the program.
If you set it up like Lydia shows in her video, then the "theme" column not only includes what each image is (like cat, flower, leaf, cloud), but also general themes for the set, like Halloween, birthday, sympathy, etc. You would just filter using the theme and it would pull up anything that you had listed in that column under whatever your search criteria were. For example, if there is a tree that you like to use for sympathy cards, you could include "sympathy" and "tree" in the theme column for that set, and it would come up when you're filtering by either "tree" or "sympathy".
Also, you could set up a separate tab and set up the columns to track cards, as well. To illustrate, right now the columns for my stamps are:
Name of stamp set
Manufacturer
Photo
Link
Sentiments
Theme
Dies (if there are coordinating)
Price
Current/Retired
You could easily swap those out to be (as an example):
Type of card
Recipient
Photo
Stamps
Inks
Paper
Accessories
Techniques
Obviously, you would use columns that made sense to you - maybe include a date column, too, or something - but that way you could see very quickly who you sent what to and what you used for the project. If you wanted to link up to the tutorial for whatever technique you used, that's something that the program is capable of doing. Once you land on how you want to set it up it would be fairly easy to maintain.
I'm still working on entering my stamps and dies into Airtable...but I have to make it work within the limitations on the free version. So I have had to get creative.
One thing that I have found to be "unhelpful" is finding or getting answers to questions. Their community seems to ask questions/make comments/need help but the company doesn't respond. And answers from other users just say "you can't do that" or "I wish they would..." or something similar. I've kind of bumbled along as I began work on it.
My columns are:
Name
Photo
# stamps in set
Manufacturer
Type
Theme
Sentiments
Dies (or stamps) to match
Price
Retired?
Of course doing this made me decide to re-arrange my die storage! :rolleyes: Ha! I've been thinking about it for quite a while, but doing this inventory made it way easier for me to decide what to do. It's been a relatively easy job.
Thanks to both of you! Your answers were helpful. What are you finding as the limitations to the free version? So far I haven't run up against those, but have been curious as to what will crop up.
But because I have a whole lot of single stamps, the number of records in a base would exceed the 1200 max per base by the time I have stamps and dies in one base. I got around that one by making one base for SU and one base for Other companies. I figure I can look two places if needed. My bases essentially match my inventory that I have been doing on paper in the past.
I have been copy/pasting my photos. I am concerned that I'll run over the 2 GB limit per base, but so far I haven't. We'll see. I'm adding photos right now to my larger base, and hoping that I don't hit that limit.
Diane - could you group single stamps by the same manufacturer together and list them on your base as a "set", so it's one record with multiple themes? Or, at least, like with like? Say, five or six floral stamps from PSX listed as a "floral stamp set by PSX", then the individual flowers listed under theme...? I did that with my About Art Accents stamps. I have a lot of Stacey Yacula stamps from Purple Onion Designs that I will group in the same collections that Stacey released them in (Snow Day, Sunny Meadow Fair, etc.), even though most were purchased individually and I may/may not have that whole collection. As you say, we need workarounds for the free version. I have no idea if I'll hit any limits or no - time will tell!
TFS. I have been using Evernote for a while, but this system seems very close to my personal excel spreadsheet setup (which does not include photos). I am wondering though if you use the link for the photo, say it is from the SU website or whichever manufacturer website, would it then disappear then when the set retires and is no longer on the website? I think this is what I am understanding from the comments on the yt video. Could you then add a photo rather than a link? Or would this need a separate column?
TFS. I have been using Evernote for a while, but this system seems very close to my personal excel spreadsheet setup (which does not include photos). I am wondering though if you use the link for the photo, say it is from the SU website or whichever manufacturer website, would it then disappear then when the set retires and is no longer on the website? I think this is what I am understanding from the comments on the yt video. Could you then add a photo rather than a link? Or would this need a separate column?
Maybe I'm missing something, but any photo that I've added through a link just shows up as .jpg, not the link it came from, so I think the program just downloads and saves it. You can also add photos from your computer files and there's an option to take a photo, as well (I would guess that's if you're using your tablet or phone, as opposed to your computer).
I started out the way Lydia explained it in her video, placing the link for the photo itself in the photo column. ALL of those were saved as a png. But then I had the same thought as Laurie. So I started copying and pasting those images into my photos column. I know some of my stamps and/or sets are not available and for some of them I have to go hunting, or else take my own picture and upload it from my computer. All ways work to get that photo in your record.
Just jumped on the Airtable bandwagon! Really quite quick in setting up the different tabs. I will finally be converting my Excel spreadsheet! Yay! This is so clean and smooth compared to Evernote.
Just jumped on the Airtable bandwagon! Really quite quick in setting up the different tabs. I will finally be converting my Excel spreadsheet! Yay! This is so clean and smooth compared to Evernote.
Thank you Lydia!
Robin
Agreed! I've cataloged over 300 stamp sets in the same time it took to do about 20 in Evernote. Still have quite a few to go, but it's SO much faster and more streamlined! I love having the dies and stamps cross-linked, too.
I'm almost finished. I added a column for # of dies in a set so I can tell if I'm missing one. When I added the photo, I used the search feature, by using the mfg and name of the set. This way I not only got a photo of the set, I added some photos of cards for inspiration. I'm no longer using Pinterest, so I love that I can do this. In addition to sentiments, I included a column for coordinating word/phrase dies.
I haven't decided to add my "sentiment only" sets. I store those beside my desk and they get used often. It was mainly the sentiments with the image sets that I wanted to be able to find easily.
You're allowed 2GB per base for attachments; even adding inspiration photos, I'm nowhere near my limit. I think I will add a column so I can tell if I've already sent someone a card using a particular set. I have set up a separate base for my stand-alone dies. I'm using the free version and haven't tun into any limitations at all.
__________________ Linda E
Caution: You are entering an artistic zone. This is not clutter - this is creating. These are not pajamas - it's my work uniform.
Yea! Thanks, Linda, for sharing your experience. I'll relax a bit about the space issue now. How could you see how much space you have used? I haven't figured that out yet.
Like you, I've separated all my dies (the actual dies) into those that match stamps and the stand-alone ones. I haven't finished my dies on Airtable yet so I'll make a separate base for the stand-alone ones. That makes sense.
Yea! Thanks, Linda, for sharing your experience. I'll relax a bit about the space issue now. How could you see how much space you have used? I haven't figured that out yet.
Like you, I've separated all my dies (the actual dies) into those that match stamps and the stand-alone ones. I haven't finished my dies on Airtable yet so I'll make a separate base for the stand-alone ones. That makes sense.
As long as your photo column is visible, your total will appear at the bottom of your screen.
__________________ Linda E
Caution: You are entering an artistic zone. This is not clutter - this is creating. These are not pajamas - it's my work uniform.
oH looks like I am going to stick to Evernote, I pretty much use a lot of tags to connect stuff, and have notes on each item already, I have input too much to even think about converting. Thanks for the info, good to know what's all out there
I recently started using airtable to catalog my stamps. And it is so EASY! I started with onenote because I was familiar with it. But I think I put in 40 stamps in Airtable in the time it took me to put in 9 in onenote. I'm only about halfway done, but I am so glad I decided to do it.
Computer program for inventory
