Cricut Abandonment

In a recent thread I was surprised by how many people said they have Cricuts but didn't use them. Now I am curious. How many have Cricuts but don't use them and why.

No, I don't work for PC, just interested.

I've only used mine a few times. The cuts seem to always look flat. Do I need to do some shading or something on them?

I've had one for quite a few years, and can count on one hand how many times I've used it...

Just not into it.

• Katlady Said:

I always embellish the cuts in some way or another...inking, distressing, whatever you want. I leave letters as is sometimes.

If you worked for PC we'd have to sign an agreement and pay for even answering any questions, then you'd give us a golden charm to prove how special we are so we could be the envy of our friends...

But to answer your question...I still use mine, but BARELY...I am not into the "cricut look" but I like getting to make letters in any size and color I want. I like getting to cut more complicated things like flourishes. But honestly...sometimes I think it's not worth it at all. I HONESTLY feel like it hampers my creativity if I don't back off of it.

• Katlady Said:

I ink or chalk my cuts -- looks more 3-dimensional to me. Or I cut several of the same cut and stack them up. Or use pop-dots to raise them. That said, I mostly use it for letters and flourishes that I can size. But of course I only got it this year, so we'll see how useful it becomes for Halloween cards, Thanksgiving cards, and Christmas cards!

I've had my Expression for about 2 years and the only time I've used it is when a friend needed some vinyl letters cut.

I use it but not a lot. I have no space for it really. So when I want to use it, I have to bring it from my bedroom and set it up on the kitchen table and use it.

However, we want to eventually move and one of DH requirements for looking for a house is that I need to have my own Office/Craft Room. Then I will use it much more.

I use mine for fonts and shapes on a regular basis. I'm scared to try other things with layered looks. I have plenty of carts, but am just afraid of having to make all those layers and then trying to figure out how to put them together!! I watched a video someone on here recommended and it helped a little bit, but not enough for me to try it yet!!

• jeneppers Said:

Some of those layers get crazy, but once you do a couple it's pretty easy. I made one thing that had SEVEN layers!

Ive had mine for a couple years and didnt use it very much ........just this week i decided it was a waste so I brought it out of my scrap room and into the living room ........while Im sitting here Ive been "playing" with it ......Ive figured out lots of things Ive never attempted before! .......cut out lots of flourishes ......loyered other cuts .......then embellished with ink & stickles .......I can assure you I have turned a corner! I will be using my cricut alot more!!!!

I think I would use my cricut more if I could afford more cartridges. I just don't have that many cartridges right now and the ones I have don't go with the pages I'm working on right now.

Space is an issue for me as well. I have to make a lot of effort to get it out and set up to use it and I just don't want to bother most of the time.
And a lot of their carts are too cutesy for me...I wish they would make a vintage/shabby chic style cart.

• Penny Lane Said:

I had to have one and same thing, can count on one hand how many times I've used it ... kind of a waste of money.

I think mostly I don't like the flat look - it's a pain to ink the edges and glue down the small letters (I have one of the cartridges that has an italicized font, Jasmine).

I really don't like the look of it. I'd prefer to use Thickers or something else.

That said, if I actually got SCAL, I might use it a LOT more!

• StaceyE Said:

I believe the heritage cart is more vintage .....commaholly just bought it and was raving about it

I use my cricut expression on almost every lo. I only have 15 cartridges but so much variety.

I use my cricut a LOT and got mine last November. I LOVE the calligraphy cartridge and do most of my titles with it. I only own 8 cartridges but found out that I can get some really GREAT prices on evil bay for most cartridges brand new in the package and WAY less than the stores. One more thing is that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it for birthday cards!

I use mine A LOT for my journaling. The "Fabulous Finds" cartridge makes all different style tags that make it really easy for me. I don't use it as much as I thought I would, but enough that I'm happy I purchased it. Of course I'm STILL buying letters and punches-- even though the cricut has MORE than enough to choose from!

• leslief Said:

Sometimes cricut letters just look flat to me. I buy thickers and other letters all the time. Even if I layer the cricut letters they still seem...cricut-y...

omg, I use mine everyday. lol! I can't imagine not using it.

I have one, but rarely use it. Not by choice, though. I have no space. No space to store it, no space to use it. It's a major production just to haul it out. A long time ago I had space for it, and used it everyday. I need to fix this problem!!

i got one as a gift which was nice because i do not get my money's worth. i bought one cart on sale for $22 and my other seven were gifts...

i prefer thickers or other sticker letters cause its soooo much easier even though with the cricut you can get just the right amount, with the right size and color... i have a texture problem with letters. plus i hate getting out my little glue pen to put the down...

the worst part about the cricut is that when i make die cuts, they are in one color and don't have anything unique to them. i don't have the time, patience or creativity to decorate every die cut on my own....

I am really loving my Cricut, especially since I had to teach a class on it at work. I wrote the class handout and it forced me to play with cutting lots of different materials such as grungeboard, stencil material, fun foam, and even adhesive sheets. Since I started playing with all of this I have really found a ton of uses for my bug and are using my cricut to create fabulous pages.

On this layout I used adhesive sheets from Therm-O-Web and the Doodlecharms cartridge to create the glittered dragonflies.
Springtime Blooms By Godschild94

On this layout I used the Storybook cartridge and cut grungeboard with my cricut to make my title letters.
Upside Down By Godschild94

Interesting. I kind of know what you mean by "cricut look". I tend to mutate the designs and fonts with the Gypsy. I like mine very much. I use it to cut chipboard then cut paper to cover the chipboard. Also use it to make freezer paper stencils to do shirts, etc. Saves tons of time.

I love my Cricut! I don't use it tons, but I haven't been scrapping tons lately. I do use it almost every time I scrap. I've layered stuff and had great results. The last LO I did I made flowers by layering them and using pop dots to raise them up a bit. It turned out great!

I had one given to me about 3 weeks ago by a friend, she upgraded. I LOVE IT! I've bought a few carts but LOVE LOVE LOVE SCAL and think I'll get more use out of that than the carts. I really like the carts for quick cut outs but SCAL rocks it for titles. I used it the other day to make signs for my classroom. I have a friend who made a bikini card svg for me and I used it to make 20 bachelorette party invites! I would have been cutting for almost 5 hours and my bug did it in under 30 for all the cuts! Now, if only it would assemble them for me!

LeeLo, that is the cutest dog! I can't stand it every time I see your posts, so cute!

• seaexplore Said:

Haven't you heard? Provo is going to release a new machine next year called "Imagine That"! It will assemble both cards and layouts...

Thanks! She is rotten, but I love her to death!

i heard the imagine is $599.... No way am I paying taht kind of money!!!


I think i may look in the to Sillhouette SD

• melissadam Said:

Lovvvvvvvvvvvve Heritage! I had two reasons for not using mine for quite some time,,,

1) I wasn't in love with a lot of the carts

and

2) I didn't realize how MUCH the carts could do!

I bought Paper doll dress up and started having a BALL with all the special features,,,,,which sent me to my OTHER carts to see what special features they have,,,,,and then I bought Heritage and fell in love! The only thing Heritage does NOT have that I'd LIKE IT to have, is an old fashioned dress form,,,,oh, and a bird cage Love the hat, love the gates, love it all!

I didn't realize Story book has SHAPES,,,,like squares and circles and scallopped circles! Now i use that and Heritage almost non-stop for something! And that's after not barely touching it for over a year!

I love my cricut! I don't use in on every layout I do, but on the ones I do, they look great with the letters or the embellies....saves me a bit of money from buying letter stickers...although I do seem to have Thickers in every color and font... now that's a different story and another addiction!

I use my cricuts every time I can....and I dare say...I am reconsidering my thoughts on the Imagine...I still think it costs too much, but I am going to get one (when the price drops or I can use a coupon on a .com)....what I could do with it LOL

Oh my goodness - I use mine ALL the time - I use it for letters, shapes, tags, flourishes - everything - Even for projects that I do with my volunteer work! I can't believe that so many people do not use theirs. I wish I had the expression and had the $ to have more Carts. I have 4 right now, and like I said I use them all the time.

The imagine will be debuted on hsn sept. 14th, I may get one then so I can get flexpay.

Hmmmmm...they may offer 5 flex pays so roughly $124 to bring home? Maybe they are going to offer a great bundle...

i have mine. it's a create. i use it mostly for titles. i will start using it more when i get more carts and a new mat. i need a new mat before i can use it but that is what is keeping me from using it.

I bought my Cricut last year....I think I used it twice! I really don't have the space and don't really know how to use it!! Would be nice if it came out with a written manual!! Also the cart are so expensive!

I recently tried cutting chipboard on it and I even bought the "deep housing and blade" specifically to cut chipboard and not only didn't it cut it but it destroyed the chipboard!! ugghh

Anyone with any ideas of how I CAN cut chipboard with the cricut expression it would be much appreciated...

look through the resources on this site. they can be very helpful

Ah, what does the blue "thumbs down" mean?

I haven't learned to use mine well. I have so many alphas & stickers in notebooks that are easy to pull from and take to a crop. Maybe this winter I will crop at home more and learn to use my machine.

Another reason I don't use it alot is I like letters made from printed paper which is usually text weight which doesn't cut as nice as card stock or heavier paper. I still draw on (using template) and hand cut my thin papers.

I received mine for a Christmas gift last year. I have the Expression and have been using mine for cards with the Wild Card cartridge. I've used it for a couple layouts and titles but not as often as I thought I would. I'm still learning how to use the machine to it's fullest potential.

I use mine a lot for lettering and basic shapes, but I don't use it as much as I thought I would. That being said, this entire banner was made with it (please forgive the way the name is hung...I didn't have a choice, but don't like it at all!)

Birthday Banner By Mrsspec

mine came with a writen manual,,,,,,

• fatwhippet Said:

score!

• Luvmyfam Said:

I had this exact same problem. It was either use the 1 cartridge I had or lug the whole thing & paper upstairs to use SCAL on the computer. Because I have moved I now will be able to have my cricut connected to a computer and be set up in my scrapping area.

• fatwhippet Said:

Oh good! I was waiting for them to completely remove all raw creativity out of scrapping! LMFAO!

• Penny Lane Said:

Hey in some case removing that raw creativity could be considered a good thing! Hate to admit it but I have made a few "raw creativity" disasters myself. Thank the stars for UnDo.