Bio

By day, Cheryl Hardy is a marketing director of a software company. She also sits on the board of a non-profit organization called Project ClayPlay (connecting economically challenged kids with artisans in the local community). She started doing pottery in 2006 and is in her pottery studio 2-3 days per week. Read on to learn how Cheryl uses Evernote for everything from managing team projects to keeping track of her studio and board meeting notes.

I use Evernote, Everywhere:

• Android phone
• Windows (work)
• Windows (personal)

I use Evernote for…

Initially, I started using Evernote as a catchall for business notes. After downloading Evernote to my Android phone, I realized that I could use it in so many different ways.

Evernote for Pottery

Evernote is a perfect tool for helping me keep track of throwing, trimming and augmenting techniques, and my work. Every week, I have about 10-15 pieces that I’m working on in the studio — all at varying steps in the creative process. When you throw a piece, it has a drying stage of about a week to a week and a half (then it goes through a kiln firing, after which you can apply glaze to it). As the piece is going through its first firing, you’re thinking about what glaze you’ll want to use, techniques, etc. As you develop this laundry list of pieces you’re working on, it’s easy to forget everything you want to do. I keep track of all of my different pieces, ideas for glazes and techniques in Evernote.

How Evernote helps me:

• Keep track of glazes and techniques. When I first started taking pottery classes, I realized that I should start putting my pottery stuff into Evernote since I was already using it for work. In the studio, it’s difficult to keep a notebook while you’re working. I started to consolidate notes for glaze recipes or techniques to achieve a specific texture or color for a piece. Why not put everything into the same place?
• Log and organize all of my projects. I keep a log of everything I’ve thrown ever since I started taking pottery classes and honing in the craft in Evernote. I’ll start jotting notes on what glazes I want to use, how many more pieces I want to make, at what stage in the firing process each piece is in, etc. To challenge myself, I build a list of forms I want to work on and learn through the course of my creative journey. At the end of the year, I review what I’ve done and how that work has improved.
• Remember the perfect recipe. Once I’ve gone through the glazing process, I follow up with pieces. Sometimes, you put two glazes together and it doesn’t work but sometimes it is the perfect blend. It’s easy to forget those things, so when I come up with something I really like, I make sure photograph and write down the exact combination in Evernote.
• Sell my pieces online. Evernote helps me through the entire process of cataloging my pieces. It helps me figure out what pieces will go into my Etsy store, how I’ll price them and where they are in the sales process.

• Capture inspiration. I capture images of pieces that may serve as creative inspiration for future projects as I do online research. [Download the Evernote Web Clipper for your browser]
• Further my education. I store notes from workshops and classes I attend locally.
• Track orders. I use Evernote to track big order requests, like my last wedding order — a 120 piece set of tumblers *whew*. I create a separate note for each major project or commissioned work I have to do. In that note, I’ll store my creative sketches, what the client has requested for color or shape, the deadline and the quantity. Then, as the project moves forward, I update that note to track how many pieces are finished, where the other pieces are in the throwing/firing/ glazing cycle, as well as how many more pieces I need to create to complete the order.

Evernote for Work

Before Evernote, I’ve never had a product that had become that important in my life. As a marketing director, I find Evernote to be an invaluable work tool.

• I launch Evernote before I launch anything else on my computer. If I’m on the phone with my boss, I take notes in Evernote. If I’m online, researching something, I clip ideas into Evernote. [Download the Web Clipper for your browser]
• At our company, we’re launching a new product, so I’m working with web developers, our CEO, and our sales team. I have different conversations with all of these departments and it’s so easy to track my progress with each of these groups in Evernote.
• My web developer and I communicate via Evernote (we stopped using email). He sends me logos and design elements by dropping them into a shared folder where I can review them. [Learn more about sharing in Evernote]
• In addition to my day job, I’m also on the board for a non-profit called Project ClayPlay. I lead a committee for public relations and communications and I have a Project ClayPlay Evernote notebook where I can keep track of everything we discuss at every meeting and what I need to prepare before an upcoming meeting.

Evernote for everything else

At this point, I can’t think of anything I don’t use Evernote for. I put ideas for gifts before the holiday season in Evernote, organize my shopping and grocery lists, keep notes about inspiration for blog posts (which is especially helpful when I can’t log into my blog), and store pictures.

Are you using Evernote for Crafting? Join the Evernote for Craft discussion on the new Lifestyle forum!