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Hi all
Black Friday is coming and cricuts are going to be on sale. I keep thinking maybe I need one, HaHa (I dont NEED anything!) but then I think would I really use it? Im just a card maker, I dont scrapbook. So all you card makers that own a cricut,
DO YOU ACTUALLY USE IT?
WHAT DO YOU MAKE WITH IT FOR CARDS?
IS IT WORTH GETTING IF YOU ONLY MAKE CARDS?
SHOULD I OR SHOULDNT I? lol
and if so, there are a few different ones, which one to get?
I use my cricut for tons of stuff. My sister who is "mrs I don't craft" cuts letters for her and all the neightbor kids for school poster projects. My favorite lately is for making t shirts.
__________________ "Teaching. Real Teaching, is-or ought to be a messy business" -Harry Crews
Hi!
I'm a card maker and I don't do scrap books at all (okay, not yet, maybe one day, LOL!!!)
I use my Cricut Expression
1. In my classroom, I'm the RSP Aide and my teacher has let me do the calendar. It's great for multiple cuts of the same image. Making the little 3/4" numbers for the dates, etc. This month features Pilgrim and Indian paper dolls and other Thanksgiving things. I've also made posters for things around the classroom and even around the school.
2. For church. I teach Sunday school for Junior High Girls. I've made things for our room. Used the Plantin School Book cartridge to make tags. Sayings for the walls etc.
3. In the foyer of the 2 story building, I've taken over two bulletin boards. I used a lot of images from the Graphically Speaking cartridge for the 7th - 12th grade Bulletin Board. I'm also taking care of the bulletin board for those serving our country. I'm using the Stand and Salute cartridge for those images.
4. The church kids are doing a play fund raiser, so I cut out letters for words at 6" tall and put them on shirts. The shirts aren't worn, they're props, so the letters cut out of paper and taped to the shirts are working well.
5. Cards, oh yeah, those too, LOL!!! I use the other cartridges for the die cut images to supplement my rubber stamps. I don't use the machine to cut a simple card base, that I cut with a paper cutter. I use the machine to cut windows, frames, borders, images, etc.
6. I use it so much for myself, school and church, that a lady at school bought one for her self, and 2 ladies from church bought their own Expressions. Not only do these ladies use it for others but for themselves.
Regrets, that I didn't buy an Expression before this time last year. Would I buy again, YES!!!! Do I use it every day? No, but I don't need to to justify buying it, it's great to have when I do need to use it.
I also have Design Studio and the Gypsy. I prefer the Gypsy, but the Design Studio is great too.
I also have an Expression and have never (an never intened to) made a scrapbook page. I'm strictly a card make. I use it almost every time I make cards. It's especially useful when I make mutliples of cards since I can cut all the parts and pieces and know they are all identical.
I originally had the baby Cricut, but even with making cards, there are many things I needed the larger one for (Wild Card Cartridge for instance).
Good luck snagging one next Friday if you decide to get one.
__________________ Randa Trying to be a Breast Cancer Survivor Follow me on Twitter @craftjunkiesc
I just was given a used one last week. Right away I used it to make a poster for our carnival at church, die cut letters, and balloons, party hats, ect...
I then used it to cut out :thanks for all the thank you cards I made. I stamped leaves all over the card in fall colors, and put the thanks at a diagonal in the midddle, layerd on red to match the red back layer .
I have it packed to take to church tonight for crafters, look forward to playing some more. I plan on using it for letters for scrapbooking. too
I have one and love it..we (i mean my kids) get 100's on all our school projects...it comes in handy a ton for all sorts of things, clings for your car, windows, stencils etc the list goes on and on..if you dont want to fight the people wars on friday. cricutmachine.com has a HUGE sale going on right now and it is sooo worth checking out, there is another thread in announcements i think that talks more about it and all the people who are getting things there. I ordered my story for $26.00 and 2 carts. for 16 and 19...13 shipping and it shipped within 3 hours of my order..not bad and no lines.
Thanks for all your replies. Now I might be leaning towards, not buying one LOL
Which is a good thing too. Not spending the money on something I might not end up using.
You ladies use it for alot of things, but most sound like bigger projects, school, church, signs. No kids in school anymore, no church things, no sign making, lol
You never know tho, Black Friday might pull me in LOL
I've done cards with my cricut and scrapbook pages. I have a couple cards in my gallery made with the cricut and a cricut album. I like stamping for cards but I love using it for scrapbooking.
ThatGirlThere.....It's not true that the Expression or Cricut is only good for big things. Yes, it is great for school, church, clubs, etc projects.
It's also great for making greeting cards.
As a previous poster said, I also don't use it for the card base, but do use it for images on my cards. I have both the Cricut and Expression and use them both on a daily basis. I don't scrap book (I don't get that idea), I only make greeting cards.
If you have the funds, I would suggest getting the Expression. Why not have the machine with all the features? If you have them all, you will find lots of things to use them for. I use my rubber stamps on all my cards also. The die cut images are embellished with my rubber stamps.
I have to say that I also do use the machines for giving demos, teaching classes (Cricut, Expression and Design Studio). I also make signs for my demos in the store.
Many stores are having the Expression on sale for right around $200, so might as well take advantage of the great price, if you have the budget.
The best thing I can say also is that if you keep the machine out in your craft area. You are more apt to use it in a regular basis than if it is packed up and stored in a closet or on a shelf. My machines are side by side on a table next to me plugged in and ready to be used.
Remember, the Cricut and Expression are not just for cutting paper. They cut fabric, vinyl, magnet and chipboard, too!
My Favorite Craft Tools!!
I also mainly make cards. If I go on a trip, I might scrapbook some. Have both the Create & Expression. (Bought the Create first because 'I would be using it for cards' but found out rather quickly that the 6 x 12 format can only make teeny, tiny cards/boxes.)
I have the Bags, Tags etc. cartridge that I used to make gift boxes. So much easier because you can make multiples quickly.
I used the Paper Doll cartridge for Halloween and Christmas cards. For Halloween cut out a 3 1/2 doll and dressed him as Frankenstein. Made a tiered card and added tombstones, a haunted house, pumpkins and a black cat on the different levels. (No pics because I gave all the cards away before I thought of taking a picture.) Going to try this type of card for some Christmas cards - have my santas done. All the items I used/will use are on this cartridge.
I totally agree with the OP regarding the availability of the die cut machine. My craft table has room for the Expression, the Cuttlebug, my Tonic 12" paper trimmer and the ScorPal.
Only you know how great the 'need' is for you so buy/don't buy accordingly.
I have the Create (small like the Original but has many of the advanced features of the Expression) that I use almost exclusively for cardmaking. I find it's great for making layered embellishments, labels, tags, and even shaped cards. If you're curious, a few cartridges to check out might be:
Storybook - nice labels and shapes that can be used as card embellishments
Joys of the Season - has nice tag and card features
Wild Card - shaped cards and coordinating envelopes; works best with the Expression, although I've had decent results with the Create
This page has links to the handbooks so you can check them out and see what they have to offer.
Oh, and custom crops has some amazing deals on the cricut right now that are just as good as the BF sales (and you don't have to fight the crowds!). Just a heads up!
What I love about is that at midnight when you run out of metal words for your cards you can cut exactly what you want right there and finish before dawn. I have not bought letters, die cuts, and so many other things since I bought mine 5 or 6 years ago. The first week it came out I had to have it--$279.00 and now it is on for $78 this Friday...wow. I am going to start waiting on technology to get cheaper before I buy things! Although, not buying stickers for 5 years probably has paid for the thing 5 times over!
I do scrapbook and make cards, but I find myself using my Cricut for cards WAY more than scrapbook pages. (I tend to fill up the page with pics and no room for embellishments.)
The small personal cricut is on sale some places for $50 on BF. I would think you would WAY get your money's worth out of that.
I have the Create, so don't have Wild Card. I just cut my own bases for the most part and use cricut images for embellishments.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my cricut!!!!
Go to the cricut website and check out the card gallery if you're unsure!
I got a cricut before I discovered I like to make cards better than scrapbooking. I use my cuttlebug and nestabilities more than anything else. I use my cuttlebug nearly every day and on every project. Check out Papertreyink for really great stamps, paper and other cardmaking supplies. Google Nichole Heady (owner of Papertreyink) and look at her design teams blogs. They have tons and tons of great cards to look at every day. I have made some great cards using their inspiration. Good luck.
I have a crituit and a BS and use them both for making cards. I can't say the expression is something you need because it took me a while before I used it very much and even, now I use it on occassion. I can now put designs on my cards that I would have never attempted to cut by hand. It's good for repetitive cuts.
The cons are that buying cartridges can get expensive and if you want to expand your capabilities you'll probably end up getting one of the supporting design softwares.
Don't get one just because it's the latest craze because you won't useit enough to justify the space it takes and the cost. But if you want to be able to make cool cuts, save time if you make a lot of a particular card/invitation/treat box then I think you should go for it. Also, always buy cartridges on sale - it not worth $90 each.
Cricut owners, what do you
