Cricut system...advice needed

[Minnie's Pal]

We have several bulletin boards at our church that different groups decorate. I've been asked to look into a die cut system that would do mainly letters for them. It seems this Cricut system would work the best but I need to make sure that it would suit our needs. I don't know anyone who hss one, but I figured I could get advice here.

I was planning on buying it personally and donating it to the church - so money is definitely a factor here. Where can I find the best price on one? (I knew you "budgeters" would know where to send me for the best deal.)

And if this isn't the best system to suit our needs, what should I be looking in to?

 

[Suz D]

Are you looking at the original Cricut or the Cricut Expressions? I don't know a huge amount about them as I haven't taken the plunge, but in my tiny bit of research I've found that the Expressions might be better for bulletin boards as you can cut things in a larger size.

Okay, on to the price. The Expressions is very expensive, but I saw them at our Walmart for around $179.00 which is a GREAT price. You might also try creativexpress.com . They often have specials.

Suz

 

[mommyoftwinfants]

You really should check their forum http://www.cricut.com/messageboard/, they always know where to get the best buy for it at the time. I bought mine from hallmarkscrapbook.com and got a really good deal on it. If you are doing bulletin boards it is a great buy if you are going to be doing large projects.

Just check out their message board and you will be surprised by all of the things you can do with this one machine.

 

[Kitzka]

You may want to check with your local library. The libraries in my area have the larger expresions machine and any teacher, community member, library card carrying member cna use the machine. it may save some money for both you and or the church.

lara

 

[Minnie's Pal]

You really should check their forum http://www.cricut.com/messageboard/, they always know where to get the best buy for it at the time. I bought mine from hallmarkscrapbook.com and got a really good deal on it. If you are doing bulletin boards it is a great buy if you are going to be doing large projects.

Just check out their message board and you will be surprised by all of the things you can do with this one machine.

Which forum?

 

[natenapril]

You might also want to check the scrapbook forum here on the dis. Alot of ladies on there have cricuts and love them. I am sure you can get some answers there.

 

[daughtersrus]

My DD works at JoAnn so I bought her an Expression for her birthday when she it was double discount day. I got 30% off and it was what she really wanted. I know that she specifically wanted the Expression to make bulletin boards. She is a Special Ed major. I don't know much about them except that the Expression will make much lager cut-outs.

JoAnn gives teachers a 15% discount so if you have a teacher in your congregation, that may be an option. My DD also teaches the scrap-booking classes at her store. She said that they have a lot of people that sign up for the class just to use the machine. I think that the cost of the class is $5.00. It's an inexpensive way to get your cut-outs without buying the machine and the extra cartridges.

 

[sb4k]

I looked into this for our local library. We had a budget of $500. We had decided to go for the Expressions since it was larger. If you go to the cricut web site, it is $500. We ended up buying ours at Walmart along with 3 cartridges for $500 (plus it came with 1 cartridge). But if you watch the infomercial the cricut is supposed to come with "4500" designs according to their advertising. So in the long run I don't know which is the better deal. I also saw the hallmark web site and debated that but figured as long as Walmart had it why not. It comes with a lettering cartridge and we bought 2 other letting cartridged plus a doodlecharms cartridge. It is sooooooo very slick to use and quite fun. I wish I would have bought a couple extra mats the first time as this is probably the first replacement we will need to buy. The blades are supposed to last much longer. P.S. Walmart doesn't have the greatest selection of cartridges, if anyone knows where to go for the greatest selection there, I would love to hear about it.

 

[labdogs42]

I have both the little Cricut and the Expressions (did I just admit that on the Bidget board? Whoops!! ). The little "bug" can cut sizes up to 5", which is actually pretty big for letters. If you want bigger things, you need the Expressions which can cut up to 12" or designs 12x24". AC Moore has great deals on Cricuts sometimes. I got my Expressions WITH four cartridges for $319. They run that special pretty often, it seems. Good prices on cartridges can be found online, ebay, etc. I don't spend more than $50 a cart. More than that is a rip-off (even if they say the retail price is $89.99, no one pays that!). Oh yeah, I got my little Cricut for $139 at Ac Moore, that was a good price, too. Good luck with your decision -- you'll have a blast with whichever you decide to get!