Monster Truck Craft Fun With The Cricut Explore

Hey gorgeous Friday craft fluff bundles I have a catch-up make for you today. Do you remember my Cricut Explore review from last week? Well here is one of the first cards I made with the Cricut Explore a few weeks ago. It is a card for a Monster Truck-crazy nephew.

[There are some affiliate links in this blog post, so if you buy through them I do get a small amount of money at no extra cost to yourself. Thanks for your support!]

I've actually sanded down the tyre inserts, but I'm not sure you can see that in the photos. It was a fun card to create and really quick too. The monster truck comes from the Father's Day cartridge which you can find if you search on the Cricut website or search for #M46FB8 if you are going through Cricut Design Space.

I'm planning to put together some tutorials and how to's for the Cricut Explore so watch this space and if you haven't seen my review yet then pop on over to my Cricut Explore Review blog post from 7th May. 

Catch you later.

Kim

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Cricut Explore - Electronic Cutting Machine Review

Say 'hello' to the newest electronic cutting machine on the market – the Cricut Explore. Launching on the UK Market this month this newest member of the Provo Craft die-cutting range boasts a total design reboot. 

I was lucky enough to get the full scoop at the April 2014 UK blogger launch event along with some other crafty and lifestyle bloggers and I thought I would share with you some of my initial thoughts and news about the new machine. 

I'm super-excited to share this with you, as you know I've been playing with a few of the different electronic cutting machine on the market so it is great to be in a position to compare and contrast and share the results with you guys.

Well from first look I was impressed. You can tell from when you open the box that a lot of care has gone into making the Cricut Explore an easy, take from the box and start cutting experience. There is very little set up and it is very intuitive so you don't have lots of manuals to read or videos you have to watch to be able to set up and get cutting straight away.

From the blogger event in April (where all the gorgeous inspirational projects you can see here and made by Suzie Candlin were from) you could tell that they are aiming this machine towards contemporary crafters who are interested in home decor and items for friends and family.

When you download the Cricut Design Space software this becomes obvious again as there are many canvas options from baby grows to foot wear and lots in between available to help you create. But of course their Papercrafter audience are catered to as well, with card blanks and Scrapbook layouts and the like.

The machine itself is beautifully designed with a smooth one-touch open, a covered slot for your Cricut cartridges if you have them, places to store tools and spare blades and even a carry bag to house it in. But most impressive of all is the simple dial system or 'Cut Smart Technology' for setting the material type you want to cut. 

So no more setting the depth of the blade or even worrying about the speed as the software and machine do this all for you, all you have to do is turn the dial on the machine to the material you are cutting. Apparently it can cut to a thickness of 1 mm or 2 mm if it is a less dense material.

The guys from Cricut were very proud of the fact that a lot of research and development has gone into this machine including talking to crafters about what they want from an electronic cutting machine, which sounds great for us! 

So far I've only cut card and paper but when I have time I shall do some experimenting for you with different materials. I've got a ton of projects I want to do and when (if) we eventually move house, I will be running the machine to its limits I can tell you, every room will have something Cricut Explored!

Another thing that I love about this machine is that it has two clamps, one for your cutting blade and one for your pen or scoring tool! How cool? So you can do both in one pass and without having to take out the blade to put a pen in. 

So yes, I am loving the Cricut Explore machine, however, I'm a little disappointed that they haven't done more to the software. I am not a big fan of the previous Cricut software Cricut Craftroom and apart from a few things the new software Cricut Design Space isn't much of an improvement. 

But let's look at the positives of the Cricut Design Space first. The biggest update to the software is that you can now use your own designs to make cutting files - what? WHAT? I know! Cool! I love making my own cutting files and now you can upload an image as a JPG, GIF, PNG or BMP file and convert it to a cutting file or you can upload any of the SVG or DXF  files you have. Wahoo! Very, very happy about that!

The other nice thing about Cricut Design Space is that they have bought it up to date with an easy to navigate, cleaner look. Finally another great improvement is that you can now write or cut any of the typefaces you already have loaded on your computer, before you could only use the alphas that they offered you and you had to own them to be able to cut them.

But some of the down points. First of all I find the software too simple and get annoyed that you can't draw items in it, any shape you want to use you have to insert, which also means you either have to own it to cut it or it is one that you have uploaded yourself and converted to a cutting file. I haven't found a way to change the sizes to cm instead of inches and there are no alignment tools to get you shapes in the right place.

The new software is all online, like the previous version, but this time it works in your browser rather than a stand-alone window. This means that when you get updates you have to close the browser down to install it and I have actually had to reboot my computer to install the update *SIGH* computers! Also if your browser crashes so does what you are working on. Annoyed? You will be!

It also means - and this is a big one - you can not design offline, you can't access your designs if you are offline, you can not use the cutting machine if you are offline.

Ok, so some of these things I can work around and probably most users won't even notice but it is a shame that you can not do any offline designing or store your designs on your own computer. I mean everyone is always online, right?

But putting those things aside I am really excited about the Cricut Explore and the fact I can now use my own designs to cut, that makes up for the stuff I don't like about the software.

I'm hoping to share some more things with you over the next few weeks as I learn more about it and I would love to hear your views on it as well.

So here is some technical stuff if you are interested:

Size: 56.4 cm W x 15.2 cm H x 12.7 cm D (22.2" W x 6" H x 7" D)

Weight: 4.94 kg (10.9 lbs)

RRP: £249.99

You can buy designs individually starting at 79p (over 50,000 in the library). Or get a one month subscription at £7.99 or a one year subscription £79.99 for access to the Cricut-branded designs which account for over 25,000 designs in the library. 

What you get in the box:

Cricut Explore Cutting Machine

Cricut Marker – Metallic Silver

Cricut Blade and housing

StandardGrip 12” by 12” cutting matt

Link address to the free Cricut Design Space software with 50 free projects

Quick setup guide

Sample materials to cut including cardstock, iron-on, vinyl and two Duck Tape sheets 

Carry bag

USB cable

Power cable

I don't know why I like that kind of information, it is probably the scientist in me. The machine is available from Amazon.

Catch you later Cutinators.

Kim

[Disclaimer time: I did get a machine to play with and access to cutting files but as always my views are as unbiased as I can make them. I also have some affiliated links in this post which mean that if you click through and decide to buy I get a percentage of the sale. But it all goes to helping me run my blog as this is my full time job and I don't endorse things I don't use myself.]

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Cricut Mini - Personal Electronic Cutter Review And Giveaway

[UPDATE: GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED]

Hey All, I have another in my series on electronic cutters for you. I've been recently introduced to the world of electronic cutters and I am having fun trying out and comparing different personal cutting machines; you can find my review and first tutorial on the Silhouette Cameo via this link.

Today my focus is on the Cricut Mini and have I got a treat for you!

Oo yes I'm very excited but read on and you will find out what the treat is (well if you haven't guessed from the blog post title already!).

[There are some affiliate links in this blog post, so if you buy through them I do get a small amount of money at no extra cost to yourself. Thanks for your support!]

So as the name suggests, this is one of the smallest personal cutting machines on the market and from the Provo Craft electronic cutting machine range. It is approx. 41cm long, 18.5cm wide and 9.4cm high (16.1" x 7.3" x 3.69") and weighs in at 2.38kg (5.25lbs).

According to the Cricut information, it can cut lots of different materials such as cardstock, vinyl, vellum, fabric, chipboard (probably thin chipboard, I would guess). So far I've only used it with cardstock and patterned paper but I will report in when I've cut a different material! The cutting range is 0.635cm to 29.21cm (¼" to 11 ½") and the cutting mat is 21.59cm x 30.48cm (8.5" x 12").

OK, so that is the technical specifications, what about getting it out of the box? Well, of the three electronic cutters I've had the pleasure of trying so far, this was the simplest to set up and the quickest from out of the box to first cut.

Like all Cricut machines it works from cartridges, but luckily for me, who doesn't have any cartridges, it also works with the Cricut Craft Room which is a free online software from Cricut.

You can access this software via the internet and you need to download the free application and install it on your computer. The software gives you access to some free images as well as the 'Cut It Free For A Week' images. But the rest of the images you will have to buy.

The thing to remember when using the software though is that you can see all these lovely images whilst you are designing but if you haven't bought them you won't be able to cut them! So go buy them or just remember to look through the 'My Cartridges' drop down menu when you are working on your projects!

If you do have cartridges you can still plug them into the Cricut Mini, but you can buy access to cartridges online as well rather than have the physical cartridge. The Cricut Image Library also has single images for sale so you don't have to buy full cartridges if there are only one or two images you need in that cartridge. 

The software is very simple, perhaps a little too simple for my liking. I did feel a bit restricted by what I couldn't do with it, for instance I don't think there is an align function. Well I searched for one and even looked online for help and couldn't find one (feel free to tell me if I'm being an idiot and just missed it somewhere!).

At the moment, you can't cut your own images or non-Cricut images, which is a shame, but if you are looking just to cut the images you have on Cricut cartridges or via the Cricut Craft Room, then the software works and you can do things like design on different layers then cut all the layers or just one of the layers. Which is great as you can have all the images ready to cut on different papers and just cut the one you want for the paper currently on your cutting mat.

When you log in to the software you are logging in online and any projects you save are saved into your account. I don't think you can use the software offline, so if your internet goes down in the middle of a project you may be a little put out!

I did have a little bit of problem with my cuts as the machine was putting little nicks where they shouldn't be, so I tried to slow the cutting speed, which helped. The customer service was very good and they kindly sent me a replacement blade and blade housing, which has improved the cuts, but I am still getting nicks where I don't want them.

But you can barely notice as you can see from this make using the Cricut Preserves images.

You can find the Cricut Mini retailing for upwards of £114.99 depending on where you buy and what comes with it.  Also keep your eyes on Creative Expressions as they are now one of the UK distributors of Provo Craft Cricut products.

My thoughts on the Cricut mini so far are that for quick and simple cutting, this machine works well. Its mini size and weight are great for the space conscious and its mini price makes for a fabulous starter cutter for the price conscious. I'm really enjoying playing with this machine and am looking forward to making more cuts. 

*****

Now for the treat! The lovely people over at CricutEU are offering one of my lucky readers their very own Cricut Mini to cut with to their heart's content!

Yep! A Cricut Mini is up for grabs: just put your name in the inlinkz gadget below. 

Don't forget to go link up with CricutEU on Facebook for all the latest news and information.

Follow if you like what you see here and spread the word about the giveaway!

The giveaway is open until 21st June 2013. The winner will be chosen by random and announced on 22nd June 2013.

Good Luck

[UPDATE: GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED]

[Disclaimer Time: I was not paid to write this review however I did get a machine to review and access to cartridges. But as with all my reviews I always try to give you my honest, unbiased opinion. (Prices correct for the date the blog post went live)]

Last Chance To WIN a Cricut Mini

A quick reminder, if you haven't added your name to the link list on my Cricut Mini Giveaway post then you can't possibly by in with a chance to win it!

Go add your name now!