Cricut Joy - A First Impression!

Cricut Joy – A First Impression!

I was recently invited to join in with a Cricut workshop with the fab team behind those magnificently popular crafting cutting machines! I’d seen them in action at a press show and been mega impressed with how easy it all looked but surely it couldn’t possibly be THAT easy as nothing ever really is is it?

I was gifted the Cricut Joy, their smallest machine which is perfect for a beginner like me and off I went to the workshop (on line, so my bedroom) to try it out for the first time!

I went into the workshop feeling all of a fluster and worrying that I wouldn’t get the hang of it but, with the helpful instruction, I did manage to create and craft some really beautiful things. A letter to iron onto a stocking using the Cricut iron on smart vinyl and then we made a Christmas cracker from paper which looked fantastic. It was VERY easy and yet looked so impressive. I did worry though, how I would fare left to my own devices and without the workshop coordinator on hand to hold mine through a project!

Now you can use the Cricut Joy for many projects using many materials, there’s the iron on smart vinyl but other vinyls to add decoration to almost anything, papers, cards… So many things! So I set about my first couple of solo projects and here’s how I got on!

Florence and I made some birthday party invitations with the cut out card templates and card which I bought in Hobbycraft. They are cut to the exact size you need when made by Cricut so that’s one hassle eliminated and using the template at the beginning was no hassle. It cut a very intricate design and I thought I’d cracked it but the next ones tore and I just didn’t understand why. We chose something less intricate and it worked! Then I wanted to write the inside of the cards with the pen and the machine (another thing you can do) and here’s where I really go in a muddle. Sizing my prject too ages because I didn’t know what I was doing and I kept mucking up. I eventually turned to my friend Kara, Cricut wizard that she is, and she talked me through my issues and explained what I was doing wrong, how and the remedy to fix it. I was soon on my way and loved it, the process, once I knew what I was doing, wasn’t frustrating at all as I’d envisaged and with ease we made the invites (albeit simpler than we’d initially wanted to go for). Kara explained how to sort the ripping problem out too – she said I needed to clean my blade which is easy as you just stab it into a ball of tin foil and she advised me to do this before my next project with iron on smart vinyl, which I did and it totally worked, see, she’s a wizard!

On to my next project. I’d had a vision because Raffie, like Jimmy when he was tinier, loves a top with a cape on it like a superhero but I couldn’t find one I liked in the shops at the moment. He’s been wearing Jimmy’s hand me down ones but I wanted to get him one of his own so, with help, I’ve made one! I love to customise clothing! Embroidered patches are a good way as well! I bought a £2.99 top from H&M (I love their basics as they’re always great quality) and some sateen to make capes with. I don’t know how to use a sewing machine (in step Gram to make the capes) and I made a big gold star with the Cricut Joy for the cape while I personalised the top with Raffie’s name and some more gold stars. I love the finish product and made some for his best friends too!