Cricut Machine, Great!!! Description, Bad!!!January 6, 2009 We ordered this for our daughter for Christmas 2008. It arrived very promptly, but not sure we got the extras that we thought we were getting. Description says 2 cartridges, but not which ones. We received one cartridge and a toolkit. Tried Amazon first, told to contact Cricut. We never did get response from Cricut, I read on their website how bad the company customer service department really is in returning emails. GOOD NEWS is that our daughter (who is 20) loves the Cricut Machine and has been using it nonstop to scrapbook. She said "easy to use and does what it claims to". We just hope that we don't have any problems because it sounds like we would get NO HELP FROM CRICUT.
Best Die Cut Machine for ScrapbookingJanuary 1, 2009 This is my absolute favorite machine.
I use my expression daily. My children love to have little things cut out for them from fancy words and paper dolls, to pirate ships and castles. (Big and Small) I love using it for all of my scrapbook pages. From Disney to different fonts. It's all there.
The only qualms I have with this machine are fairly minor. The mats are difficult to find, especially around Christmas. The mat will lose it's stickyness, which holds it in place for cutting. As it loses it's stickyness, the machine will sometimes "pick up" the item you are cutting and will end up destroying it. You can only insert the mat one way, according to the directions, which ends up cutting a lot on one area of your mat. Thus losing the stickyness on one side, faster than the other. You can however change the location of where it begins, thus making it easier to fill up an entire page with litle waste.
The little inconveniences don't take away from this wonderful machine though. A little costly, but well worth it in time saving, versatility, and usefullness.
This machine is incredible. I love my Expression.
I love my cricut machineDecember 27, 2008 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
My passion for card-making naturally led to my desire to purchase a personal electronic cutting system. In reading various cardmaking magazines, I noticed there were only a few personal electronic cutting systems to choose from, but the choice was pretty obvious for me.
After watching the Cricut informercial ([..] I became intrigued. The Cricut system is made by Provocraft ([...]). I did searches on Ebay ([...] and Craigslist ([...]) in hopes of finding a good deal. At the time, the resale price on these sites was so close to the price offered at WalMart ([...], that it didnft make sense to try to buy it used when I could have a new one and the ability to conveniently return it if there was a problem. I also liked that WalMart and Michaels ([...] carried other Provocraft products such as cartridges, mats, pens and a toolkit. There also was a wide variety of cartridges I could select from both WalMart, Michaels and Ebay. Each cartridge contains a unique set of images or fonts. Some of the cartridges include: Animal Kingdom (animals); Mickey Mouse (Disney), Christmas Cheer (Seasonal), and much more. Only once did I pay a ridiculous amount for a cartridge ($99 for Paperdolls). At the time, it was very new, widely popular and hard to get. Now, as a rule, I only purchase cartridges when they are on sale. Michaels often has a sale where these cartridges are only $35 - $40. If I bring a Michaels ad to WalMart, any cashier can perform a price match. WalMart is great about price matching cricut cartridges, dvds, etc.
There are 3 versions of the Cricut cutting system:
1. Cricut (original)
2. Cricut Expressions
3. Cricut Create (Sold Exclusively at Michaels)
I purchased the first model and loved it right away. A few months later, I then sold my system on craigslist and ordered their largest system, the Cricut Expressions from WalMart. This model is capable of cutting larger sizes up to 12 x 24, the standard scrapbook size sheet is 12" x 12". The third model, the Cricut Create, is an improvement on the first small model and sold exclusively at Michaels.
The other great features of this cutting system is the ability to draw. You can replace the cutting blade with Cricut pens to draw, instead of cut, images. You can also purchase Cricut Vinyl adhesive sheets to cut images for decorating the interior of your home. There is also the ability to connect your Cricut machine to your computer via a USB cable. You can then use the Cricut Design Studio software to prearrange the layout of your images before cutting. The Cricut Design Studio software also allows you to view the images of all Cricut cartridges, but you can not cut with them unless you own the cartridge. Another option is to use a third party software, such as Sure Cuts A Lot to cut from your existing fonts or to create your own images to cut. This product is by Craft Edge and is available on ebay or by clicking this link: [...]
This machine is lots of fun, versatile, and widely available by big retail giants. I would highly recommend purchasing this machine. For more information on crafts, see my blog at [...]
Cricut doesn't make the cutDecember 25, 2008 4 out of 4 found this review helpful
After seeing the informercial for the Cricut Expression, I was thrilled with the possibilities. As a teacher, and crafter, I was already generating ideas for my many uses for this machine - for my classroom and my many home projects. When I received it as a Christmas gift, I could not wait to get started. Within an hour, my thoughts on the machine were completely soured. I began by following the very easy set-up instructions, loading my piece of cardstock, and typing in the message. I hit the CUT button, and watched the little mechanical blade go to work. Then, I hit the unload paper button. When i slid out the plastic mat, I carefully inspected the cutting. It looked great. I peeled the paper off of the sticky surface only to see that the blade failed to cut completely through the cardstock. I made sure the pressure was set to max, and tried again. Same result. I then took a simple piece of looseleaf paper, and tried the same function. It worked. Peeling the paper off of the mat was close to impossible. I followed the rocking motion that the company promotes, and peeled off most of the paper, but there was residue left all over the mat. Sort of like when you try your best to peel a price tag off of an item, and some of it remains, along with some sticky glue here and there. What a mess! I am thoroughly disappointed in the performance of this machine, and am going to return it ASAP! Regular weight cardstock is supposed to be a breeze for this thing....especially with a brand new blade and cutting mat. In order for me to separate my "cut" letters from the cardstock, I would have to very carefully cut around each letter with a scissor. Isn't the point of this machine to eliminate the scissors? I am very sad to report that this machine gets a thumbs down from me. I had such high hopes for it :(
