Wednesday, April 25, 2012

I bought a Cricut

I've toyed with the idea for a long time. I've talked about for a month or two. I finally did it.

I bought a Cricut Machine.

A Cricut Expression 2 to be exact.

I'm actually a bit upset about it. I did lots of research online about Cricut. I loved the idea that not only can you use the Cricut cartridges with them, but that you can also buy a third party bit of software that allows you to hook it up to your computer and access thousands and thousands of images to cut online.

Or so I thought.

Turns out rather recently, Cricut got mad about that, and sued the third party. Now the only way to use the Cricut is with their very expensive cartridges.

Wish I had known that before I bought one. Because frankly, I wouldn't have bought it.

I would have bought a Silhouette Machine instead. They still allow the third party software.

And, I learned a valuable lesson - make sure your research is RECENT. I did lots of research, but turns out, it was out of date. Ugh.

So....I debated. Do I keep the Cricut and buy the expensive cartridges? (I have discovered they are much, much cheaper on ebay - though I haven't bought any there yet). Or, do I take a loss by selling my Cricut at a discount, then buy a Silhouette.

I haven't decided for sure yet. I see some pros and cons either way.

In the meantime, I might as well play with it:

This is my first attempt:


I actually did a BUNCH of blocks. I took pictures of them this morning, but I don't have time today to tell their story, or to do a post on them. I'll be doing that in the next day or two.

I have to say, despite the disappointment, the Cricut is fun. I have lots and lots to learn. The manual leaves much to be desired - it's pretty much a figure it out on your own thing. 

I'm sure there's lots of tips and advice to be found on-line. You-tube anyone? 

5 comments:

Sherri Auld said...

Check out Above Ruby's Studio, she has a booklet that tells the speed, depth etc. for different types of paper - it was really helpful to me when I started out using the cricut.

Barb said...

Thanks! I'll do that.

Shauna said...

Unless you have lots of money to sink into thier cartridges, I'd sell it! I have a Cricut and I am very limited in my creations even with thier new craftroom, you still are limited to thier images! I'm getting rid of mine and going for the Sillhouette!

Anonymous said...

I have switched to the sillhouette Cameo... it is a 12 inch cutter like the Cricut Expression, but is not cartridge based. I already had SCAL (the 3rd party software of which you spoke) but if I didn't I would just spend the extra 50 bucks and upgrade to the pro software (basic is free)

If you go this route, shop online for the best price, I paid 229 for mine, and look into getting a subscription to the sillhouette online store. For 20 dollars a month you can get 150 shapes/sets. Cricut cartridges contain many cuts, but usually there are only SOME of the cuts you would actually want. With this setup, you can get ONLY images that you want to have.

One last thing, the Cameo cuts FAR FAR FAR better than any of my Cricuts ever cut. The detail you can get is amazing. Just be sure to de-sticky your mat, or the images will tear when you take them off.

Good luck, and enjoy

Barb said...

The above 2 comments show just what I suspected would happen when Cricut did what they did - folks are switching from the Cricut to the Silhouette.

I really appreciate your comments with so much information in them!!! Very helpful!

Barb

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