*Originally posted Feb 2014, updated with current info and pictures!
Get ready to have your mind blown by Cricut.
Now. I know what you are thinking. I thought the same thing (and verbalized it A LOT).
Cricut? Like the scrapbook paper cutter that makes things in cutesy fonts and pastel paper? No thank you.
Cricut? Like the company that only lets you create with predesigned cartridges? Nope, I like to design things myself, thankyouverymuch.
Cricut? Like the pinnacle of Mormon Housewife-hood? ( I can say that, I’m Mormon.)
Cricut was not my friend. Cricut was something I was super judgy about.
Let me give you a little bit of a back story on the whole situation so you know where I am coming from. I have this friend, we will call her Mallie…because that is her name. We met when Vintage Revivals was 3 months old. At the time she was the PR girl for Deco Art. We got to know each other so so well and I completely love her. About a year and 1/2 ago Mallie moved to Utah (from back east) to work for Cricut. I was pretty sure that we would have to not be friends any more about it. Then just over a year ago while I was in Salt Lake, I met Mallie and a few other amazing people for lunch to talk Cricut. She basically told me that even though she could tell me NOTHING about the new machine, or where the new CEO was taking the company, that I needed to trust her and get on board.
Up until this point I had been pretty hardcore Team Silhouette. There were issues that I had with the software, and the machine, and the company in and of itself, but not anything huge enough to willingly give it up for Cricut (me being judgy again). But it was Mallie, and I knew she wouldn’t lead me astray. I fought with it for a while. Finally after realizing that there were a lot of places that Silhouette was coming up short and that there did have to be something better, I took a huge risk and stopped posting about Silhouette completely so that I could give the blog a chance to breathe. (I didn’t want to tell you to buy a Silhouette, then the next week tell you how fantastic a Cricut was.) So a year later, here we are. If the Cricut didn’t change my mind, then I could go back to blogging about Silhouette and no one would notice.
In September I had a chance to go to Cricut headquarters to get a sneak peek of the Explore and the new user interface Design Space. You guys. I literally started to cry while I was there because everything was just SO GOOD. They had exceeded every expectation that I had ever had. They had addressed every concern and problem that I had ever encountered with a machine. They had taken ideas that were so far ahead of where anyone else was that, well, it was beautiful (insert sob).
Cricut knows the way that they are perceived (not unlike the way that I used to feel about them) but they are changing in massive ways.
So I would love to share with you the 10 things that converted me completely. Please keep in mind that I have both the Silhouette Cameo and the Portrait and have had my Explore since December. So I have had a good amount of time to really test it out. And I have werked it.
1. The Cricut Explore Is Just A Tool:
The most perspective changing thing that I discovered (hands down) was that the Explore is no longer in the same class as their previous machines or as Silhouette’s. The Explore is a just tool. Just like a saw, or a drill. You aren’t limited to what you can make with a drill, the Explore is the same way. No longer will projects be defined by a specific look because that is what you are limited to using. You can use it to create on virtually any material (more on this next!) and you are not limited by what they tell you you can make with it.
2. Cutting Materials That Will Blow Your Mind:
I love to push things. I don’t know, its just my nature to go as far as I can. When they told me that I could cut leather, wood, extremely thick fabric, and about 50 other materials I was like, GAME ON CRICUT. And that is exactly what I did. Check out my business cards. Awww yeah, they are cut out of 1/32” Birch Plywood.
I used sticker felt and my Cricut Explore to make a custom stamp that I used in Macie’s Bedroom Makeover. Just a little something that I had never seen before. This was totally new territory. I went to Joann’s and bought sheets of really thick stiff felt that had an adhesive backing. The Explore cut it like butter.
3. The Machine is Intuitive and Simple:
One problem that I had with the Silhouette was having to manually adjust the speed, and pressure, as well as adjusting the blade length on the dial. The Explore has the Cut Smart system that senses the pressure that the material needs, changes speed based on the design and has one dial that has presets for everything from lightweight paper, to poster board. There is also a setting for a Custom Cut. In the Custom Cut drop down menu there are materials listed that you have never dreamed of cutting. Or you can create your own by setting the pressure and the # of times you re-cut it. Speaking of re-cutting (this is a simple thing but I just had to share it with you!) when the Silhouette does multiple passes on an image it cuts the entire image and then does it again, and again. The problem with doing this is that it frequently gets out of alignment and your project is ruined. When the Explore cuts multiple passes, it cuts the same section of the design multiple times before it moves on to the next. Genius.
4. User Friendly Design Interface:
So Simple. Always up for a challenge, I can usually figure a difficult task out, and if something is too simple I feel like I don’t have the ability to really create something spectacular (does that make sense to anyone else? Bueller?) Design Space is so simple Ivie my 10 year old can use it, but I don’t feel like they have dumbed it down and lost any of the abilities that I want. It is simple and fantastic. Design Space is a web-based software. This means that all of your projects are stored in the cloud. No crying over losing files if your computer crashes.
Design Space works in Layers like PS, but it is SO simple. I think I have used the word simple about 15 times in the last paragraph. If you look closely in this picture you can see how quick it is to change something from Cut to Write or Score.
5. Cut Wirelessly AND From Your iPad:
This is HUGE!!! All of the machines have a port for a wireless adaptor (you can buy it here). Cricut has also developed an app for Design Space so that you can cut and draw, exactly like you would on your desktop on your iPad. This is the great thing about having a web based software, all of the updates are automatic and the app will be free to use.
6. You Don’t Need A Cartridge EVER AGAIN!
This was kind of the deal breaker for a lot of people, you could only create what was already created. That is now dead in it’s tracks. You can upload JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, SVG, & DFX files for FREEEEEEE! If you are the happy owner of a Cricut cartridge or 73 good news, there is a port on the Explore that you plug them into and you also have the ability to upload them to your Design Space account and they will be saved on there forever! You never have to plug in the cartridge again! If you have already linked your cartridges to Craft Room they are also linked to Design Space (just se the same log in when registering your Explore!)
7. Drawing!
The Explore comes equipped with a dual carriage that has a spot for cutting, and a spot for writing or scoring. and when I say writing, I mean writing. The pen just clicks in and any image that you upload can be changed from a cutting project to a writing project with one click. I love that I can create a font in my own handwriting and the Explore can sketch it out. Check out the detail on the this leather notebook. The entire thing (minus the stringing) was make with my Explore!
8. Storage!
Being a messy creator I am ALWAYS misplacing tools. Taking the Gold Medal for best idea ever, the Explore has 3 different compartments for your tools. The cup on the top, the large storage on the bottom will hold all of the Cricut tools, and the small one on the right has a magnet for your blades so they never roll away. One other bit of fantastic engineering is that the Explore is up on legs, and your mats will slide right underneath and out of the way.
There are about a million other reasons that I love the machine, but the one that I am most excited about involves YOU!
9. Make It NOW!
For REALS!! Cricut has asked a handful of extremely talented bloggers (Gabby from Design Mom, Kim from TomKat Studios, Emily, Nicole, and Jenna from Small Fry, Kelly from Studio DIY, Amy from The Idea Room, Rachel from Handmade Charlotte, Jen from Tatertots and Jello, Jen Goode, and myself pssst! I don’t know how I was included in this group) to create projects exclusively for Design Space using their new tool Make It Now. We do all the hard work, all you have to do is pick a project, click the Make It Now button, and load the materials that you are cutting. Everything is cut, sketched, scored, and sized to create the project EXACTLY like we have designed. How cool is that?! I will have more info on this in a few weeks when the first projects roll out!
10. Ashish:
No I didn’t sneeze. Ashish is the CEO that has changed everything for Cricut. His passion and excitement are like nothing I have ever seen before. He makes things happen that are only a dream. He thinks that everyone should have the chance to create and is doing everything in his power to make that possible. He truly listens to feedback. In fact, while I was at ALT, I was sitting by Ashish at dinner. They had announced the Explore the day before and were getting a lot of feedback from customers who were upset about not being able to cut SVG files for free (they were part of the new subscription plan). So he decided that it needed to change, and made me pinky promise that I wouldn’t tell anyone before he could, that SVG files were going to be available for anyone in Design Space to cut for free. Its like Cricut is run like a small town business and not a huge corporation. It is amazing and really fascinating to watch.
Phew that was a lot of words. I just want to make sure that you are equipped with the information that you guys need to make an informed decision.
The Cricut Explore on sale right now! Check it out here, What are you waiting for?! Get your cute butts over there now so that we can be Cricut buddies!
I am completely and utterly in love with my Explore and I cant wait for you to get one too!
Make sure you come back tomorrow, I am spilling all of the hacks I have learned with my Explore!
