Question for those of you who HAVE the Cricut Expression.

Is it me or is this thing not at all as good as it's cracked up to be??

Re: Question for those of you who HAVE the Cricut Expression.

I love mine. I like being able to make large/page sized items. And with the larger mat there's plenty of room to cut detailed images at once.

What don't you like about it?

Re: Question for those of you who HAVE the Cricut Expression.

I'll seriously had a problem with just about everything I tried doing.

The first time I used it I was trying to cut out an Abby Cadabby figure. Could not for the life of me get it. It just wasn't cutting the tiny details and tearing.

I then tried cutting fabric and tried all of the tricks I read on youtube. It never worked. I ended up having to use it to cut cardstock to then trace on the fabric and hand cut.

I like to use the textured cardstock which I have been told by a few people is tricky to use with the machine. That's really all I like to use. I'm going to get the deep blade and hope it works better. I still use my punches to cut out alot...I find they work much better.

Maybe I just thought for the price it was going to be a magic cjutting machine...lol.

Re: Question for those of you who HAVE the Cricut Expression.

I never tried it with anything other then paper or card stock. I didn't even know you could cut fabric! I want to get the deep cut housing so I can cut chipboard.

For textured card stock, I usually use max pressure and slowest cut speed. For thinner patterned paper, I may turn the dials back a little.

I am sorry it's not working better for you.

Message edited 1/29/2011 11:45:34 AM.

Re: Question for those of you who HAVE the Cricut Expression.

I think you need to practice cutting. There is a bit of a learning curve. I have had mine for years now and Im always learning a new trick.

I dont know where you are located but I know my local scrapbooking store offers Cricut classes and I have learned lots from them,

Good Luck

Re: Question for those of you who HAVE the Cricut Expression.

I got mine for Christmas and LOVE it. I have found for intricate details I need to slow down the speed of the machine. I haven't tried fabric, so I can't offer any suggestions there. For textured cardstock I set pressure to 4, and use the multiple cut feature on 2, blade depth at 4.

Message edited 1/29/2011 5:51:45 PM.

Re: Question for those of you who HAVE the Cricut Expression.

I've had mine for a year and I use it all the time. Now that I have a gypsy (thank you Michael's clearance) and I splurged for Make-The-Cut, I use it even more. The possibilities are endless.

For different types of cardstock - use the cutting guide from Above Rubies Studio LINK .

Also, some cuts are too detailed to be done small. You will need to play around with it to find what size works best..

There are tons of blogs that will help -
Creations with Christina
Above Rubies Studio
My Pink Stamper

Please the Cricut message board is a great resource as well.

Good luck! I hope you have a lot of fun with it.

Message edited 2/12/2011 10:45:38 PM.