recently i started using an online inventory management program for my craft etsy business, called Craftybase, to track all of my inventory and materials. for years i've been looking for an online 'cloud' solution to track my finished products, as well as my materials. google spreadsheets was my temporary solution, but i knew there had to be a smarter system out there. then i heard about craftybase. i've had an account now for a few months and it has been pretty amazing.
overall, Craftybase does exactly what I want it to do. it lets me track my inventory to the level of detail that i set. it's online, so if i sell an item, i can login to CB from anywhere and see if i can relist. it's smart - materials link to inventory, which link to sales, which link to expenses. it's pretty and well-designed. it's constantly improving. it's new so there are still some quirks, but Nicole and Nathan and awesome (they read your suggestions and questions, and implement them!). so, overall, i'd highly recommend it if you're into things like organization and wanting to track inventory. now on to the more detailed review...
craftybase lets you enter and track your materials (down to a single seed bead, if you'd like), number of finished items, sales, expenses and contacts. i only use it to track my inventory, materials and sales....and leave all of my accounting and bookkeping aspects to Outright.
my favorite things
you always know what you have on-hand and when you need to place an order for new materials
you can see trends in sales, what you've sold the most of, and which items are your most profitable
you can see at a glance your costs for materials per unit and see where you can save on supplies
everything is customizeable to the level of detail you prefer - only want to track products by not materials? no problem
help determine how much you should charge for an item by seeing your costs at a glance
Craftybase one-time account setup
so, here's how i use it. first, i set up my account
1. painstakingly enter all of my materials. i'm obsessed with organization so i logged every. single. bead. for weeks i sat in the middle of a pile of beads, counting, entering, counting, entering. you only have to do this once....afterwards just add new items when you buy them. (tracking materials is optional, so you don't have to do this if you're not concerned with this level of detail).
2. import in all of my current items from etsy. this part is simple - just link up your etsy account and click 'import'. done.
3. for each made item, you can create a 'batch recipe' where you log how many and what materials it takes to make that finished product. you only need to do this once, and again, completely optional but highly recommended in order to link your materials and projects.
4. go through and add your inventory for your finished items. each time you add a made item, CB magically decreases your material counts that you set up in your 'batch recipe'. neat!
Maintaining your account
so, that was the tough part. after that is out of the way, maintaining your account is super, super easy.
1. import your etsy items regularly. simple as a single click. this will tell CB if you've made any sales, added new products, or had any fees.
2. when you physically make an item, click the 'add a made item'. if you've setup your batch recipe, this automatically subtracts from your materials (my favorite part!!)
3. anytime you make a supplies purchase, you'll need to enter it in.
all in all, Craftybase does take some work to setup, but for me, it's completely worth it. it is a new program, so it's constantly evolving and changing. there are some bugs and quirks here and there, but the team is very responsive and quick to fix things. they also really listen in the forums, and will add new features that you suggest if they think it makes sense for the whole community. it's also exciting because who knows what kinds of fun things there are to come. if you've tried out craftybase, let me know what you think!
i've always been a fan of tv dinner style trays and decor, and absolutely loved this wallpapered tv tray from design*sponge.
this is such a clever and perfect way to making a vintage item beautiful and modern. i've been a long admirer of this wallpaper and have considered adding it as a touch of color to one wall in my living room. but having it cover something useful, such as this cute little tv tray is perfect.
and a tv tray stand wouldn't be complete with the most adorable tv dinner plate. i love this porcelain version of the old plastic types. and it even keeps your food separated!
then there's also the plastic version of the prison lunch tray. i actually bought a set of these in stainless steel a while back, but it looks like only the plastic version is offered now.
i've noticed a few ideas and tutorials popping up out there that i'd like to try around my apartment. first there was the most beautiful toilet paper roll decor from design*sponge that i've ever seen. originally designed as "kid art"...hmmmm...
i really liked the idea of it, but something about toilet paper rolls just seemed...not fitting. then i came across this design with cans!
green + sturdier than cardboard rolls + functional! i love that you can actually store things in the cans. maybe this would be the perfect decor/storage in the craft/office room.
i'm a bit of an organizer, and have always loved keeping scrapbooks full of ideas, related to fashion, sewing, knitting, cooking; binders of all of my patterns; folders stuffed with inspiration photos; and notebooks of my handwritten notes when i'm constructing a pattern. and while it's nice to have a physical, tangible thing, i feel like there is finally a program good enough to make the switch to electronic.
i've been using evernote for the past few months and think it is the best thing out there. i've been telling all of my friends and family about it, like i work for them or something. i really use it to organize everything in my life, but much of it is devoted to my project ideas.
when you first start, it's a little daunting, because it's like a blank white notebook, and you don't really know where to start or how you're going to use this thing. to get you started, here's a glimpse at mine...
basically, you create a notebook for any category, and fill it with pages or items of relevance. for instance, i have a 'knitting & crochet' notebook (notebooks are listed over there to the left), and within it, i have a note for every pattern that i own (all of icons on the right of the page). within each note, i put a picture at the top, then just put a copy of the pattern (pdf or text) below it. then, when i open evernote up and look at knitting & crochet, i can see pictures of all of my patterns. and each pattern is tagged with the appropriate garment types so that i can easily search for 'scarves' or 'pullovers' or whatever.
and it has some really useful features. like the web clipper. ohmygod, i rely on this thing. anytime i'm on a website, and i see something inspirational, or if there's a pattern, i just highlight everything i want to save, and press the clipper button, and it automatically sends it over to my evernote account. let's see...some other fun stuff....you can take pictures of things, and if there's text in it, it will automatically scan it for words, and so you can search on it! it's pretty handy when i'm at a store and can take a picture of their business card to get their name/address and link it to fabric, or yarn or whatever i like that they're selling, email it to my evernote account, then that store name becomes searchable.
when i first opened my account, it kinda just sat there because trying to come up with a structure was too daunting. but, if you start with one notebook, more and more uses will eventually come to you. in addition to knitting/crochet, i have a sewing notebook, with all of my electronic patterns, and my garment ideas. i have a fashion notebook, to clip photos from webpages that are inspiring. a notebook for recipes, from the web as well as photos of my favorite hardback recipe books (and the ingredients are automatically scanned in and are searchable). menu pages, to-do lists, project ideas, healthcare info like my glasses prescription, or my dentist's name/number, shopping lists, making travel plans, e-books for studying foreign languages, etc, etc....
do you use evernote? what kinds of things do you use it for?
this is such a clever and perfect way to making a vintage item beautiful and modern. i've been a long admirer of this wallpaper and have considered adding it as a touch of color to one wall in my living room. but having it cover something useful, such as this cute little tv tray is perfect. 
