I have tried to stay away from this bug for the last 2 years and after spending some time with some people who had already been bitten, I was hooked. What bug am I talking about? I am talking about the Cricut.
The original Cricut came out in 2006 and I thought it was way to pricey for a diecut machine. I even told my husband that if he bought it for me, I would be mad because I didn’t think it was worth the money. Then Provocraft came out with the Cricut Expression. This was a bigger model and more expensive. And I still held my ground on not owning one. And after one crop with a wonderful group of ladies that let me use theirs, I was bitten. I came home and told my husband that I had to get one. So I started saving my money for the smaller one. Then when I realized that that the bigger one was just about $100 more, I decided I wanted that one instead. Two months later and I own the Cricut Expression and I love it. I am now saving my money for the cartridges.
For those of you are still on the fence, I have listed the stats on both machines below. But if you are still on the fence, get one. I don’t think you would regret the purchase.
| Cricut | Cricut Expression | ||
| Cutting Sizes | 1″ to 5.5″ tall and 11.5″ wide | .25″ to 23.5″ | |
| Modes | |||
| Portrait – changes the cutting direction from landscape mode to protrait | No | Yes | |
| Mix N Match – allows multiple creative features to be applied to only certain characters. | No | Yes | |
| Quantity – allows you to choose number of cuts you want of those selected | No | Yes | |
| Fit to Page – maximizes the size of the character on the page, overriding the size set with the size dial. | No | Yes | |
| Fit to Length – allows you to set the size of the length of a designated cut. | No | Yes | |
| Auto Fill – fills the page with as many of the characters selected on the display | No | Yes | |
| Multi Cut – allows you to cut the cut lines of a selected characters two, three or four times on top of the original cut lines | No | Yes | |
| Center Point - cuts characters centered on a designated point | No | Yes | |
| Line Return – allows you to create line breaks between cuts | No | Yes | |
| Flip – creates a flipped or mirrored image cut of characters | No | Yes | |
| Portable | yes | Sort of (I think it can be if your very careful with it) | |
| Cartridges | cartridges can be used with both | ||
I really believe it depends on what kinds of projects you plan to do on which bug you will want.
Also, if you find yourself bitten or want to know more, go to www.cricut.com and check out their message boards. These talented women are great in answering your questions and they have funny to boot.
Gadget Girl
