I finally did it — I bought myself the ultimate DIY and crafting tool — a Cricut cutting machine. If you’re new to the Cricut world like I was not too long ago, you’re probably wondering, “what the hell is a cry-cut?”
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If that’s the case, you’re not alone. First of all, it’s pronounced like “cricket,” and second of all, prepared to feel the urge to buy one right this moment. The Cricut family of ultimate crafting tools are more than a brand, they seem to be a crafting lifestyle. And I’m just now acquainting myself with it.
It seems as though I’m sort of late to the party, but honestly, that’s ok! A lot of fine crafters and DIY’ers (like Jennifer Maker) embarked on this journey before me and created really awesome tutorials and resources for a newbie like me to learn from.
What is a Cricut machine?
A Cricut cutting machine is just that — it’s a machine that can cut a slew of different materials in a really precise way. The machine itself looks sort of like a printer, it hooks up to your computer or can be controlled from an app.
The product comes with a software called Cricut Design Space which allows you to access a library of designs. Or, you can upload or create your own designs. To make the designs, you add your material of choice to a sticky mat that feeds into the cutting machine. A click of a few buttons later and you’re watching in amazement as a little robot creates the design from your screen.
There are a handful of different models, but they all essentially do the same thing to varying degrees. On Cricut’s website, you can compare the machine’s features.
What can the Cricut do?
While it is called a cutting machine, its capabilities expand beyond cutting. The inside of the machine can house various tools like markers, glitter pens, a scoring stylus and more. Depending on the design’s requirements, you can switch out the pieces to achieve perforated marks, hand letting and precise cuts.
Depending on what machine you have and with the proper tools, Cricuts can cut through:
- Iron on transfers
- Paper
- Poster board
- Wood
- Vinyl
- Cork
- Leather
The possibilities truly are endless. From personalizing any item imaginable to creating custom art, stencils, labels, 3D greeting cards, you name it, a Cricut machine will be your new favorite tool in your crafting arsenal. As you can imagine, I was super-duper excited to get my hands on one.
Why I decided to go with the Cricut Explore Air 2
The Cricut Explore Air 2 met my beginner needs and medium price-point. There are 3 main Cricut machines:
The newest member of the family, Joy, is a small machine, which I somehow found intimidating? I was worried that it was too small, even though it looks like you can do some pretty cool stuff with it still. I almost felt like I needed to understand how the other Cricuts work in order to appreciate the Joy machine. While that is not true at all, there aren’t as many tutorials for the machine since it’s so new.
Both the Maker and Explore are in their 3rd iterations. Honestly, I couldn’t quite justify the higher price of the new machines with top-of-the-line features, when I want to make sure that I find value in having a machine to begin with. Plus, I ordered right after the holidays where the Explore Air 2 bundle was on sale. (Gah they have this gorgeous emerald color available now which I definitely would have gotten!)
So that’s how I wound up getting the Explore Air 2 and a bundle of beginner’s goodies. I already have one project under my belt (I’ll be sharing soon). If you have a Cricut but are looking to swap it out for another model, there is a trade in program too!
Get your Cricut now so we can craft together!
Are you sold or atleast Cricut-curious? Shop the sales and value bundle packs and gain access to Cricut Learn, a library of tutorial videos offered by Cricut. You’ll be crafting and making in no time!
