Cricut mini - what do I need to know.

[Swimalie]

My husband surprised me with a Cricut mini. Befoew I open the box and make the return invalid, what do I need to know. Tell me all. I didn't ask for one of these so I'm sort of clueless.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

They're fun. You need to hook it to a computer & download Cricut Craftroom to your computer. What do you need to know? You'll need cartridges for it or you can buy digital from the craftroom.

 

[Swimalie]

I guess my biggest question is - is it worth it? I've read some bad reviews. The computer part won't be hard. We know computers and have Macs so they are pretty user friendly. I see Cricut has free images that I can play with, too.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

I think it's worth it. Do you scrapbook or card make? I'm going to upgrade to an expression 2 soon.

 

[Swimalie]

I don't scrapbook but I guess I'll be starting to make cards. I'm a graphic artist so I do have a creative side I was just thinking I could hand make my Christmas thank you cards now, especially since I ran out of generic thank you cards just recently. I have a bunch of blank cards I print on and now I can put paper on.

 

[LJSquishy]

My mother in law used to have the smaller one and ended up upgrading to the full size model. I've used it a few times and love it. I think even the Expression is too small for certain applications (like making decorative cutouts for a birthday party) so if it were me I would upgrade to the Expression rather than the personal size one. That one is really small when you might want to make letters, cutouts, etc. If you know you will only want to use it for tiny cutouts for cards and such you will be fine with the small size though.

They are very neat and you will love it! I have always wanted one to get into card making.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

My mother in law used to have the smaller one and ended up upgrading to the full size model. I've used it a few times and love it. I think even the Expression is too small for certain applications (like making decorative cutouts for a birthday party) so if it were me I would upgrade to the Expression rather than the personal size one. That one is really small when you might want to make letters, cutouts, etc. If you know you will only want to use it for tiny cutouts for cards and such you will be fine with the small size though.

They are very neat and you will love it! I have always wanted one to get into card making.

The mini that the op has is not the small one that you're thinking of. That would be the cricut v1 which only has a small 5.5 in mat.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

I have 2 cricuts, it's ok but I wish I had held out for a silhouette or a cameo. With one of those, maybe both, you can cut free files off the internet.
With the cricut you are stuck with the cartridges.
Provo Craft is also notorious for not upgrading machines and fixing bugs.

I also have a Mac and Provo Craft is seriously behind in making their machines Mac friendly. I probably had my expression 2 years before they even attempted to make software compatible for the Mac.

You can come visit us in the scrapbook section if you have more questions.

http://disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=123

 

[LJSquishy]

The mini that the op has is not the small one that you're thinking of. That would be the cricut v1 which only has a small 5.5 in mat.

Oh, my mistake! I didn't realize the personal size was different than the mini. It looks like the mini can do normal-sized applications so in that case, open it up and start playing with it!

 

[Swimalie]

You can come visit us in the scrapbook section if you have more questions.

http://disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=123

Will do. Thank you.

Oh, my mistake! I didn't realize the personal size was different than the mini. It looks like the mini can do normal-sized applications so in that case, open it up and start playing with it!

Thanks We just did our Christmas today since we were out of town so I'll be playing with it soon - after 1000 legos put together!

 

[weesignlanguage]

Not sure if you've opened it but I would definitely read about the Silhouette Cameo before I opened it. I LOVE my cameo. BUT I have never owned a Cricut so I can't even tell you if the Cameo and the Mini will be comparable in price and features.

I use my Cameo to do vinyl cutting, heat t-shirt vinyl and scrapbooking. It's amazing!

 

[Swimalie]

Not sure if you've opened it but I would definitely read about the Silhouette Cameo before I opened it. I LOVE my cameo. BUT I have never owned a Cricut so I can't even tell you if the Cameo and the Mini will be comparable in price and features.

I use my Cameo to do vinyl cutting, heat t-shirt vinyl and scrapbooking. It's amazing!

I haven't opened it yet because we found it $30 cheaper on line and with bonus tools. I'm taking it back to Michael's today. The Silhouette looks nice but more than double the price. I don't see me using this enough to justify the extra cost. Although I volunteer for my son's PTO and could get some good use just from that alone.