{"id":13462,"date":"2015-03-24T00:21:13","date_gmt":"2015-03-24T04:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/?p=13462"},"modified":"2017-11-09T09:20:04","modified_gmt":"2017-11-09T14:20:04","slug":"cricut-the-bugatti-of-personal-electronic-cutters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/cricut-the-bugatti-of-personal-electronic-cutters\/","title":{"rendered":"Cricut – the Bugatti of personal electronic cutters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Entering the world of Arts & Crafts can be a little intimidating if you don\u2019t have inherent artistic skills.\u00a0 You say you can\u2019t draw.\u00a0 You say you can\u2019t even cut a straight line.\u00a0 No worries, there\u2019s a new best friend you need to meet, and his name is Cricut.<\/p>\n

Cricut Explore Air<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Working<\/p>\n

The newest in the line of awesome personal electronic cutters is the Cricut Explore Air<\/a>.\u00a0 \u201cAir\u201d because now you can work wirelessly with your \u00a0iPad. \u00a0Start a design on the road, or start it in your office. Save it to the cloud and with your iPad, you can continue refining and designing where ever you\u2019ve got an Internet connection.\u00a0 Save again and when you get back to the studio, you\u2019re ready to print. (It\u2019s not as sexy, but you can also work from your PC or Mac laptop while on the road.)<\/p>\n

Now when you\u2019ve got an hour stuck waiting for one the kids to finish one of their service projects, you can actually be working on your next project, not just daydreaming about it.<\/p>\n

So how does it cut?<\/strong><\/p>\n

To say this cuts awesomely is an understatement.\u00a0 Cricut rather shrewdly offers what should be a complex project as your first \u201csample\u201d project.\u00a0 After loading the software and not knowing anything about the machine, you follow some really simple instructional steps and within minutes, you\u2019ve got a combination piece that shows the cutter\u2019s total capabilities.<\/p>\n

\"First<\/p>\n

After loading a project file, and a piece of cardstock, the Cricut begins drawing a coiled telephone cord (yeah \u2013 that old school type with a wire) and writes \u201chello\u201d in script before some more coiled cable. Then the cutter drops down and cuts out an antique phone base unit and handset. Cricut even cuts out the miniscule holes in the rotary dial of the phone (about a 1\/16\u201d in diameter, and cuts them perfectly.)<\/p>\n

Add a piece of colored liner paper and you\u2019ve got the makings of a very unique greeting card.\u00a0 Total time\u2026maybe two minutes.<\/p>\n

\"Finely<\/p>\n

As good as that was, I next tried a \u201cprint and cut\u201d pirate ship from the huge collection of images Cricut makes available. Take a look at the way the sails are connected with just super thin slivers of paper. If that blade wasn\u2019t uber precise, those would have easily been torn apart by any other cutter I\u2019ve used before.<\/p>\n

\"Cricut<\/p>\n

And if you\u2019ve got lots of pieces to cut, that\u2019s where Cricut excels. It will automatically calculate the most efficient way of arranging your designs on one sheet of media.\u00a0 You can then go grab a cup of coffee while it prints them out.\u00a0 Sorry, no time for French Press.\u00a0 Even cutting out two dozen pieces, we\u2019re talking fast!<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s that \u201cprint and cut\u201d stuff?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well actually, there\u2019s two ways to do it.\u00a0 The Cricut Explore Air comes with a holder for a marker, right next to the cutter head. You can use that to write out a message, using any of the fonts on your computer \u2013 not just ones that you\u2019ve purchased. After writing, the machine can cut out your work.<\/p>\n

\"Cricut<\/p>\n

But, the more exciting thing that really impressed me was the capability to take any design, whether from the Cricut library or from Google Images, bleed the edge (extending the color slightly wider than normal) and printing the image using your own printer.\u00a0 It also adds crop marks to the printed image.<\/p>\n

\"Preparing<\/p>\n

Then, taking the image from your printer, you feed it into the Cricut and it does an amazing job of trueing up the paper via the crop marks and then cutting a perfect outline of your design. I now have stickers for the accessory boxes for each of my cameras so I can quickly visually identify them.<\/p>\n

\"sony<\/p>\n

Thinking outside the box (of overlooked Christmas cards)<\/strong><\/p>\n

So what do you do when you discover a dozen Christmas cards in March?\u00a0 In this case, the border design was kind of cute and I thought it went well with some \u201cfather\/daughter dance\u201d photos I had taken. Problem was, I would need to measure out and individually cut out the \u201cframe\u201d openings in a dozen cards.\u00a0 Wasn\u2019t going to happen.\u00a0 Either a) I\u2019m too lazy or b) it was too much time invested.<\/p>\n

\"Turning<\/p>\n

But\u2026with the Cricut, I measured the first one, loaded an appropriate-sized rectangle in the Design Space app and then placed the cards on the cutting mat.\u00a0 Within seconds, it cut each one out perfectly. Printing some photos just the right size for the card interior, I pasted them inside.<\/p>\n

\"Cricut-8407\"<\/p>\n

Ended up making some cute frames from cards that were destined for the trash.<\/p>\n

\"Cricut-8409\"<\/p>\n

What do you want to cut?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Without even changing blades, the Cricut cuts a crazy amount of materials. Add a deep cut blade and it\u2019ll cut almost everything except bricks.\u00a0 Well, maybe that\u2019s a bit of an exaggeration, but it will cut heavy leather and chipboard.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a list of the materials you can cut with the included blade:<\/p>\n

\"Materials<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n