Does Cricut Really Work?

I have been an artist for ages. I loved drawing, creating. Then I fell in love with computer graphics & design. But I was still a hands on girl. I wasn’t into scrapbooking, but I designed templates for friends as well as cardmaking & other papercrafts. I worked for the school district, so I had access to die-cutters and the like. I would pass by the scrapbooking shop at the mall and salivate over their commercial cutting machines, as they were amazing in their versatility. Then along came the Cricut. I thought, how cool, I could have a smaller version of what I worked with & had seen, in my home. Alas, I am poor.
Then in 2009 my world crashed. I became so ill that I had to have some fingers amputated, and more. I became even more poor & cutting by hand is not easy anymore.
Then in February of this year I was given a Cricut. My best friends, also graphic designers, as well as papercrafters had been singing the praises of what they could do with MTC, SCAL & their Cricuts. I could now be one of them…NOT. As a disabled individual, the Mats are a nightmare. Trying to line up the paper is a challenge. Not to mention the mats are either too sticky or not enough. I have a heck of a time trying to get my projects off the doggone “fly-paper”! I also rescue cats, the mats I have are hair-magnets. ICK. Then the blades: either too much or not enough for a cut. Then the mats begin to get scored and damaged from use. What a stupid design, IMHO.
Since I am my own artist, I must say, I am not a fan of Provo Crafts lame juvenile artwork cartridges. They are of poor quality, to say the least. I was truly looking forward to using SCAL & MTC, so I COULD cut my own work. But Provo Craft wants none of that. They went after the 3rd party software creators & wish to crush individual thought & expression.
So now I have a sub-par cutting machine, that is inconsistent in performance.That I cannot afford carts for & Provo Craft doesn’t want me to use my own art on, even though I own said sub-par machine.

I should have done my research better. Although the machine cuts OK, I didn’t understand how limited it would be using the expensive cartridges. I like many of the cartridges, but was just expecting a little more control. Although, they are now developing an online system for working with images, it is still limited and I won’t have copyright to anything I make.

I was also disappointed with the accuracy of the cut from the Cricut, particularity circles. I called customer support thinking I had a defective machine, but learned it is pretty standard issue.

I had a cricut for over 2 years, and very quickly realized that what was available on the cartridges was NOT what I needed to cut. I am a cardmaker, and like cutting borders and elements that are not available on a cartridge. I purchased MTC and was elated that I could design my own cuts. PC has terrible customer service – was on the phone for over 2 hrs for a simple question and then got the run around. I personally will never purchase any PC product again! I have a Gazelle and can cut very intricate designs with no problems – Cricut can’t even cut a decent circle!!!!

For the basic cutting needs, Cricut does the job. It’s a very expensive pair of scissors when you add in all the cartridges, even at sale prices. If you want a cutter with good and intricate cuts and engraving, embossing and a few other capabilities, look to the other cutters on the market. Add a few dollars up front and get a really good cutter, or you can pay a lot more in the long run and get a Cricut which will beat a pair of scissors,, but not a whole lot more.

Just do not expect any kind of customer service with the product.

Cricut cutting machines are fabulous products. They do what they are designed to do. With the number of options/features on each machine there is a learning curve. The cricut website provides step by step instruction on how to use each function. I have had great customer service when I have had a question, concern or complaint. I highly recommend all of the Cricut line of products.

This machine works fine for the most primitive of cutting–as long as it isn’t a circle! But it is extremely expensive, given that you pay a significant amount for the machine and $70-$80 for a cartridge that may have only a few designs you like. Yes, you can buy some cartridges on e-bay for $25, but again you may only like a few designs. For less than the price of a new cartridge you can purchase 3rd party software and for the price of the machine and 4, YES 4 new cartridges you can have a machine that is better quality, able to cut small detailed designs, make unique projects and overall kicks cricuts butt in every aspect. So anything beyond 4 cartridges–is money you could have spent on other crafting supplies or shoes or …… :)

I bought my Cricut 2 years ago. I couldn’t wait to make cards, scrapbook layouts and more. Unfortunately I didn’t do my homework and failed to realize that the cartridges range from $39.99 to $100.00+. I then found out that the machine can’t even cut a proper circle, shapes don’t come out as pictured on the cartridge, nor are they true to size and then there are the sticky mats and blades that have to be replaced frequently. I would recommend looking into another cutter unless your crafting pockets are deeply lined.

OK so yes it does work but nothing made to go with it works very well so what good does it do? And the company has horrible customer service