Cricut love

I love my cricut.

(I know I know...with all these silhouette giveaways you have forgotten about the little ole cricut)

well, I still love mine.

I bought it when it NEVER went on sale and NO one had one and I thought I was pretty freakin awesome. (well, I still think I'm pretty freakin awesome....)

I love my cricut. ( and no..i'm not getting paid in any stinking way for saying this....I just love it okay but a girl and her cricut just didn't sound as good as a girl and a glue gun.) it's all about alliteration.

and I want you all to love yours too (if you have one)

so, I'm doing some basic cricut instructions--cause when I first bought it..I was a little overwhelmed. Which brings me to...

I'm also going to be doing posts about each cricut cartridge I have...cause you know when you get in there (preferably joanns) you are standing in front of a RACK of cute things....it's SUPER HARD to pick which one you want!

Now, I just have the basic cricut. the mats are the 12x6. I sat in the store staring at this one and the expressions one (that is 12x12 mats) and I just didn't think I needed  the bigger one. (and honestly I really haven't needed it so far knock on wood!) but the 12x6 only cuts up to one inch to 5 1/2 so if you are going to need something bigger....keep that in mind!

I think this is called the Baby cricut

They also have the Cricut Create

It's a little bit more fancy...it can cut smaller than 1 inch and the blade is directional (whatever that means)

and the cricut expression

this is the martha stewart of cricuts.....

it does 12x12 but there is a 12x 24 mat you can buy....so that is some mammoth cutting. I'm sure it does a bunch of other fancy stuff...but seriously so far I have never wanted anything extra than what i have with my "bug"

(there is also the cricut cake:

which I want so bad cause it looks sooo fun (then I have a flashback of how bad I wanted the choc factory and how I would make all these choc confections and since I have gotten it (7 years ago) it has sat in the shelf above my fridge right next to the waffle maker I never use and the electric knife we use once a year)
but it cuts through edible paper sheets and if you are a mad cake decorator you should invest! it looks so fun!

when buying a cartridge: SHOP THE SALES!  I have only bought one cartridge full price--(80 bucks!) most are $25-35 Joanns has sales for all the big holidays (like BLACK FRIDAY!) (just make sure you pick out a few you want before hand cause if you go in there for a certain one...chances are it will be sold out!)  My cousin said that michaels and roberts have great sales like 4 for 25$...so keep your eyes open for that (sadly, joann's 40% off coupon excludes cricut cartriages (boo!)

My local scrapbook store rents cricut cartridges for $5 a day...which is great for those themed ones (like disney)

or seasonal..

Now..when looking at cartridges.....

looking on the back you just see the basics

but you need to pay attention the creative features along the side:

 

This shows what you can do besides just the basics...

see...this one does cursive...block letters...the one in the oval...and the one in the trapezoid...lowercase and uppercase!

The non-alphabet ones have a LOT of choices! This is the paper doll one and it does the outfits...the accesories (the club)...a hairpiece...and some background stuff (dinosaurs and palm trees.) They all have so many choices.

MATS: you will need to keep replacing your mats...which is the part I hate the most about cricut! I extend the life of my mats by using a glue stick to adhere the paper (as long as the paper isn't too thin)  glue works great for this. (don't tell cricut!)

imperfectly beautiful recommends zig glue:

she also has SCAL(sure cuts alot)  and if you don't know what that is......hear it from her own words:

" I pride myself in saying I've only purchased ONE cricut cartridge on ebay for 20 bucks! Never again...no more cartridges for me. For those of you, who don't know what SCAL is.....it's a software that allows you to hook your cricut up to your computer, use all of your true type fonts and dingbats, and design you own customized look! It is absolutely fantastic and well worth the $75....the price of one cricut cartridge)!!!"

and she gives a how to HERE (i might just have to buy one!!!!)

AND the cricut has that high tech thing that stores all you cartridges and you can stretch them and resize them and turn them and all sorts of fancy pancy stuff!)  It's called the gypsy.

check out the how-to video HERE it will make you want one! it's more expensive than the scal software.... but it looks so much fun to use!

Now..my cricut didn't come with a spatula...

and I think this is one thing that you NEED. It's pretty handy if you ask me!!!

Now if you want some basic BASIC instructions....(like how to load your matt and what the H all the little buttons on the side do you should head on over to this blog:

OBSESSED With Scrapbooking

she knows her cricut crap.

she has this awesome cutting guide that tells you how fast to go....how to adjust your blade and the pressure! it's a must! you can print it off and just keep it with your cricut stuff!

go HERE

another great cricut blog is

some of their cute stuff:

they also have great videos for the basics....and also shows you the 411 on the gypsy!


so....maybe you don't have a cricut..I still LOVE their vinyl! I use it a ton and not always with my cricut!

Remember this project?

(It's still holding up except the cord has a rip cause of my husband scraped it when scraping the snow off!)

It comes in lots of colors!


I know you can buy vinyl everywhere..but this is still my fav. It's at Joanns (and i'm always there anyways) and you can use your coupon with it!
all right...that's all I got...

stay tuned to see some cricut projects and cartridges....

and if you have a cricut and a fav cartridge...let me know!

AND if you have any "cricut" projects send me a link! I will show them off!

like this one:

from: melissa

"To make the boy bags I used the doodle charms cartridge for the bear, baby face, duck and bottle. For the "Boy" I used the Celebrations cartridge and for the bag I used the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge."

stick it to the silhouette and have some cricut pride!