Inventorying some more

“The value in keeping anything is
in keeping it current and instantly accessible. … Refresh often.”
~ Don Aslett, Weekend Makeover

Upon my return from The Creative Connection I was inspired to organize my studio right away. I failed to do that last year and my Ruth Rae felt album project is still in a box ‘to be completed’.

It’s a messy process to get organized.

The table was cleared for my homework (though I ended up doing that on the floor) and my new goodies were inventoried right away. As I entered my new Mermaid Dowry items and looked for last year’s entries I found out that I never completed my beads drawer. I had counted all my buttons (746 of them) in one half of the drawer, but found few entries for bead-related materials in my spreadsheet.

Of course I dropped a box as I pulled everything out, sigh.

Could have been a bigger box, though…

 

It was kind of zen to count up all these teeny items.

“If someone asks me what makes me happiest,
it is never anything I can quantify
like a house or a possession or something I can touch.
It is the spirit of the human being,
which can fill me with more joy than anything in the world.” 
~ Goldie Hawn, A Lotus Grows in the Mud

126 spreadsheet lines later I can account for 10,100 beads!  They’re all in this drawer.

Counting paper was less fun because I didn’t record prices for the packs as early as 7 years ago. Guesstimating thousands of sheets can be tedious.

This pad is even older.

Here ironing the tissue paper was a soothing activity.

“If a thing or activity does not create passion or excitement
or they have waned, then it is time to dejunk.”
~Don Aslett, Weekend Makeover

My ribbons account for more than 9,000 inches and the embellishments drawer now contains 8,000+ pieces for those keeping track of the inventorying venture. Since July I’ve been good about entering new craft supplies as soon as I receive/acquire them. It is much easier to do this with a receipt in hand than weeks or months later.

Right now I am using a regular spreadsheet for documentation (Numbers in iWork-not as good as Excel), but over time I want to try out MYOB Account Edge  or Bento which were recommended by fellow crafters on the Where Women Create Facebook Forum.

Do you inventory at all?

“All of the work we do has a place in this world.
Our challenge is to sift through the opportunities and find our niche.”
~ Judy Wise in Taking Flight