The Maker's Inventory: Track Your Materials, Not Just Your Work
Every maker knows the feeling. You sit down to start something, reach for the one color you need, and the tube is empty. Or you're at the craft store wondering whether you already have enough of that filament, and you guess wrong — again.
CairnHolm's Creations section has always been about cataloging what you make. Now it tracks what you make it with. The new Materials tab is an inventory for your supplies.
Know what you have
Add a material — paint, filament, yarn, wood, whatever your craft runs on — and record how much you have on hand and the unit it's measured in. Spools, grams, sheets, it's your call.
Each material shows a stock badge derived from its quantity:
- In stock when you've got plenty
- Low when it drops to a threshold you set
- Out when it hits zero
Set a low-stock threshold on anything you reorder, and the tab quietly becomes a shopping list. Filter to Low and Out before a supply run and you'll know exactly what to buy — no guessing in the store aisle.
Know what it's worth
Record the cost per unit and where you buy it, and CairnHolm adds up your whole inventory into an estimated value, with stat cards summarizing how many materials you have, how many are low, and how many are out. The Maker / Brand and Supplier fields autocomplete from values you've already entered, so logging your tenth tube of the same paint takes seconds.
Know what it went into
This is the part that connects Materials to the rest of Creations. When you add or edit a material, you can link it to the creations it went into — and note how much each one used.
So you can open a finished piece and see what it was made from. Or open a material and see everything you've ever made with it. Your inventory and your portfolio stop being two separate lists and start being one connected record of your craft.
Working data, kept private
Unlike your creations, materials aren't portfolio pieces — they're working data for you. So they're never published or featured. There's no visibility toggle to think about. It's your supply closet, and it stays yours.
Stop guessing
Add the three materials you reach for most. Set a low-stock threshold on each. Next time you're about to run out, CairnHolm will have told you first.