How Do You Organize your Stock?

[gardengirlbc]

My hubby and I are preparing for our first out-of-town craft show. Up until now we've done some big shows and we've muddled our way through. If we forgot something we could run out and pick it up, if we ran out, we could run home etc. This time we won't have that luxury. I need to make sure we have everything ready to go and totally organized.

My husband is planning to have about 250 pens in our inventory. So far his organizing style has been to wrap his pens in tea towels, layered and all tucked up in a box. I'd like to clean it up a bit.

My first idea was to buy the pen pouches from Penn State. They are clear plastic and 35 cents each approx. http://www.pennstateind.com/store/PKPOUCHC.html

My husband is concerned that since the pouches will hold the pen quite tight, it may damage the finish on his pens. (He only finishes his pens with wax, not laquer.) Has anyone used these? Do they affect the finish at all?

How do the rest of you organize your pens when you're going to a show? My hubby uses the same kit for all of his pens. The only difference is his wood types and whether he's used chrome/gold etc.

My thought was to label each pouch with the info and then pull out what we need as we need it.

Any advice or organizing tips would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[nava1uni]

I use pen portfolios that I have purchased from Rockler. They hold 24 pens each and are lined with soft fabric so don't harm the finish. There are also trays that you can use and they stack. I believe that PSI sells the trays, as well as, other places. Check Wood-n-Whimsies for the pen holders that they sell. I think that the plastic holders might damage the finish. Good luck on your show, I hope that you do well.

 

[cwolfs69]

i use the pen pouches also. in adition ive started using the roll up felt carriers an think they are actually easier to use but hide the pen. they work best for groups of pens the zip pouches let you see each pen in the case.

Sent from my Galaxi via forerunner

 

[chrisk]

+1 on pen portfolios.
Like this one: http://www.theturnersworkshop.co.uk/store/view_product.php?pid=15&cat_id=50&prod_id=415

or this one: http://www.theturnersworkshop.co.uk/store/view_product.php?pid=15&cat_id=50&prod_id=273

 

[KnB Polymers]

We use the roll up felt carriers also. Love them, takes up minimal space. But like mentioned before, you can't see what is in them until you pull it out, which is ok for us. We put the ones we start shows with in them. The others that we pull out as we sell, we have in a briefcase type case where they are all layed out behind a string.
Also for shows, my husband bought a rolling tote/bin type thing. You open it up and it opens into a stair type form having 3 bins (2 have dividers) and a tray on top that lifts out and opens another bin. Anyway, everything fits in there (pens, razors, displays, signs, paper, scissors, etc etc) and we keep it with us during the shows and have everything right there with us.

 

[sbell111]

We use two methods.

Cathy made a few pen rolls that are very similar to the ones sold by CSUSA, except ours hold more pens. These were pretty easy to make. She knocked them out on the sewing machine in no time. The rolls hold our show inventory in the order that the pens are displayed on our table displays.

'Reserve' inventory is kept in trays like this one:

They make it simple to go through 'stand by' inventory to find a specific pen. I also use a few of these on our table as displays. I threw together a few picture frames that are sized exactly to the top of the tray. The frame rests atop the tray (with the clear cover removed, and then a spacer is set under one end of the tray, raising it up to show off the pens. It looks (and works) much better than I am describing it.

 

[beck3906]

sbell....
where did you get the trays?

 

[sbell111]

I picked them up on ebay. I believe they originally held Waterman pens.