Cricut Machines

[skalexander]

Morning everyone!

I know we have lots of talented crafted on the Dibb, so I’m hoping you can help.

Like lots of us, the lockdown has made me slow down and appreciate the little things a bit more, and one thing I could like to get into is crafting.

Specifically I’d like to do some scrapbooks of previous trips, make some cards, make some vinyl transfers for t-shirts etc and, if I can manage, I’ve seen some amazing paper wreaths (all over time of course).

I’ve been looking at Cricut, and reading on web pages, but I’m a bit overwhelmed. The newest/snazziest one seems to be the Air 2 - am I best getting that, because it’s the newest, or will something more basic do for me? Also, what are you “must have” accessories and where do you get all your supplies from?

[Rebelrebel]

I've been intrigued with these recently and thinking of getting one but are there lots of extras that you have to buy too, like special paper and stuff like that? I've been decorating a lot of log slices over the lockdown as we had a couple of trees thinned a few months ago so have lots of branches and was wondering if I could do pictures/messages with the machine and then glue them onto the slices.

[skalexander]

Its a minefield isn't it! I was also looking at the Silhouette Cameo 4, but it doesn't seem like they're as big over here as Cricut, so I would worry about getting accessories and supplies. I'm not a hugely frequent visitor to the US.

Your log slices sound interesting, have you got any photos?

[Rebelrebel]

Originally Posted by skalexander

Its a minefield isn't it! I was also looking at the Silhouette Cameo 4, but it doesn't seem like they're as big over here as Cricut, so I would worry about getting accessories and supplies. I'm not a hugely frequent visitor to the US.

Your log slices sound interesting, have you got any photos?

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For what I actually would like one of these machines I don't think I'll get any value from it, I was thinking about putting messages on them, DD is going to a Wedding in August and I thought I could put the Bride and Groom's names on it along with the date and a cute picture but it is a lot of money just to produce a few gifts like this.

Here's a couple of pictures of stuff I've done, the second one is decoupage

[dee slack]

mine's over 8 years old and haven't used it for years now, even though I have thousands of pounds in cartridges for it, including quite a few Disney ones. I'm just a lazy scrapbooker / crafter these days and mostly just mat my photo's on patterned paper.
One day I hope I'll get back into more creative scrapping and start to use them again as it was a really good tool, and the newer machines look amazing.

[Guest]

I'm getting one for my birthday in a few weeks and I'm super excited. Air 2 isn't the newest/snazziest. The "fanciest" and "newest" is the Maker. But it largely depends on the materials you want to be able to cut, the Maker as more downward pressure, so can cut material, leather and soft wood, so you can make things like advent trees, wooden houses, wooden signs etc.
If you only want paper craft/vinyl then an Air 2 is cheaper and will do just as good a job, if you want the ability to craft with other materials, I think you potentially would want to, then get a Maker.

[Guest]

If you have more questions feel free to inbox me, I've done a *lot* of research for months to figure out what machine and accessories I need so feel like a bit of a pro at this point.

[kateh134]

I’ve got a lot of craft equipment including a Cricut, but I get far more use out of my Gemini. It will depend on what you want to do, and I decided I couldn’t justify a new Cricut, so I bought one second hand several years ago. I only have one cartridge and use it occasionally, but did use it last week to cut some balloon shapes to make some card confetti. I’m more into card making and find the Gemini suits me much better and the dies are much cheaper than the cartridges.

[skalexander]

Originally Posted by iLaura

I'm getting one for my birthday in a few weeks and I'm super excited. Air 2 isn't the newest/snazziest. The "fanciest" and "newest" is the Maker. But it largely depends on the materials you want to be able to cut, the Maker as more downward pressure, so can cut material, leather and soft wood, so you can make things like advent trees, wooden houses, wooden signs etc.
If you only want paper craft/vinyl then an Air 2 is cheaper and will do just as good a job, if you want the ability to craft with other materials, I think you potentially would want to, then get a Maker.

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Originally Posted by iLaura

If you have more questions feel free to inbox me, I've done a *lot* of research for months to figure out what machine and accessories I need so feel like a bit of a pro at this point.

See more...

Thanks for this. I joined the UK Cricut Creators and Cricut for Beginners groups on Facebook, and that's been really interesting.

I am leaning towards the maker, as I love some of the wood things you can make, and feel like I'd want to try that if I could get the hang of it.

My biggest worry is spending the money and then not using it. I'm not naturally arty - think stick men - but I made my own wedding invitations, so I can do it if I have a plan to follow. I also don't do a lot of crafting at the moment, but I want to.

On the Facebook groups there's lots of talk about Hochanda, who are a home shopping channel for crafting, and offer a 20% discount and a flexipay thing. Apparently they've got a bundle offer on the 21st as well, so going to have a look at that.

[Mexy02]

I’ve just bought an air 2 from hobby craft online . I can’t wait for it to come and I pondered but this fits best for what I need ( I think) . I’d love the Disney cartridges but can’t find them to buy .