Cricut 101: Lesson 3 Cartidges

Welcome to Cricut 101: Lesson 3!

Today I am going to focus on Cricut Cartridges. This post is mostly going to be a lot of writing and explaining so I hope you will bear with me!

In order to use your Cricut Machine you must own at least one cartridge. Most machines come with the "George and Basic Shapes" Cartridge. It's a great one! It has a super cute font and basic shapes, just like it says :)

Each cartridge comes in a box with a handbook that shows you all the different cuts that the cartridge can make.

Here is a tip before buying a new cartridge....Go to the Cricut Website under Products and you can look at each cartridges digital handbook! It's like having the real thing in front of you. So before you buy, you know exactly what it will cut. The back of the cartridges box only shows a very small amount of the cuts that are possible.  

For example, click HERE to see the digital handbook for one of my favorite cartridges "Create a Critter".

I think I mentioned in my last lesson that it took me a while to figure out how the cartridges worked with all the different layers and options. Well now that I understand, I'm going to teach you!

Let's look at a page from the "Create A Critter" Cartridge Handbook

The big purple box on the left shows you two things

#1) The first cut (in all white) 

#2) What the completed animal will look like.

The other six boxes represent the different function keys on your keyboard. This is where things look tricky but they aren't!

On every single cartridge, the top image (on this page it would be the sandcastle) requires you to use the "shift button" on your keypad in addition to the function.

For example, let's say we want to cut the sandcastle. Because it's the top image we know we are going to need our shift button to cut it. Go ahead and press that. It's on the bottom left side of the keyboard.

Step One: Press the button with the crab on it on the keyboard. Load your paper and cut. You will get the bottom layer of the sandcastle which is the brown part in the completed photo.

Step Two: Press the Layer 1 function key on the top left corner of the keypad. This will cut the sand or cream colored part of the sandcastle.

Step Three: Press the Layer 2 function key. This will cut the red flag that goes on top of the sandcastle.

Your done! You just glue them all together and you have yourself a sandcastle! Now instead of the shift lock button we could have pressed the shift button right next to it every single time we made a cut on the sandcastle but instead we saved a little effort with the shift lock feature.

Now what if we wanted to cut that cut little crab out? Well, since it's on the bottom of the page, we would do exact what we just did, but we would not need to have our shift lock button on.

So remember this....Bottom image = No Shift Button Needed, Top Image ALWAYS = Shift Button.

Not sure which cartridges to buy and start out with? Here are a few of my very favorites and why I like them...

1. Create a Critter - It has the cutest animals and very easy layering

2. Give a Hoot - The most adorable woodland themed cuts.

3. Country Life - Really fun country cuts with great font and numbers as well. Also it has pendant banner cuts.

4. Just Because Cards - Has everything you need to make a great looking card very quickly, and they are for all occasions.

I don't have a ton of cartridges but you don't need tons to make cute things! And don't ever, ever, ever buy a cartridge for full price or even close to full price.  Custom Crops has fantastic prices on them and is always having sales and also Ebay is a great place to get them. Thanksgiving to New Years is the very best time to buy anything Cricut related at all. That's when I get most of my cartridges.

I hope you have enjoyed Lesson 3 and learned something! Please feel free to email me at auntielolocrafts (at) gmail (dot) com, anytime with questions!

Cricut 101: Lesson 2

Okay so now that we know what tools we need for our Cricut machine, let's go over how to use it!

The very first thing you are going to want to do is go to Obsessed with Scrapbooking and print their handy dandy settings table. Trust me on this, it's a life saver! 

Next, watch THIS video from http://www.scrapbook.tv/ that teaches you how to load and unload your paper. Under the video there are steps as well with photos and more instruction which is very useful! I tried to make you a video of all of this but it didn't work out so well, technical difficulties :)

Once you learn to unload and load your paper, you will want to watch the videos below that I made for you using the cartridge "Create A Critter". I also go over the different buttons on the keypad. It's a little blurry, so I am putting a link below to an excellent website that goes over the buttons in much more detail.

Oh and just a warning, this was my first time doing videos! Yikes! I had no idea I had such a silly voice :)

Video #1

Video #2

Video #3

Video #4

Excellent article by Scrapbook.com

The Keypad

Thank you for the huge response to my first Cricut 1o1 lesson, I hope this one helped as well! Please let me know if you have any questions or what you would like me to go over in the future. Cricut 101: Lesson 3 will be going over cartridges and I will post that next week. 

P.S. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions! auntielolocrafts at gmail dot com. Seriously I want everyone to enjoy their Cricut's as much as I have enjoyed mine :) 

Cricut 101: Lesson One

I love my Cricut! I mean really LOVE my Cricut! My whole crafting world changed when I learned what it could do. I can make WAY cuter things now in a lot less time. Recently I have gotten a lot of questions about Cricut Machines and how they work. I thought it would be fun to do a little series for beginners. Like real true blue beginners. I'll share my tips and tricks that I have learned along the way and hopefully it will be really informative and fun! Let me know if there is anything you specifically want to know and I'll make sure I answer it! 

Lesson One:  

In this lesson we are going to go over the tools you will need for your Cricut.

#1 - A Cricut Machine! :)

There are more options than there used to be. There is the "Baby Bug" which can cut up to 6x12. The Expression, cuts up to 12x24 and the Imagine which cuts up to 12x24 as well but it also works like a color printer. You pick the patterns and it prints your image (like scrapbook paper) and then cuts it! Most people are shocked when I tell them I have the baby bug still! Even though it's small you can do a lot with it. Make sure you never buy a Cricut Machine for full price. Websites and stores are always running sales on them and the best time to buy one is around Black Friday in November.

#2 - Cutting Mats

Most machines come with cutting mats but if you buy a machine that doesn't, you can buy them at craft stores and even Wal-Mart! 2 come in a package and they are pretty inexpensive. The cutting mats are vital to using your Cricut.

#3 - Cricut Tool Kit

This is definitely an optional purchase but to me it's worth every penny! The scissors are the best I've ever used. All the different tools are designed specifically for the Cricut and help so much. 

#4 - Cricut Spatula

This little spatula is only $5 and is so helpful when getting paper off your mat. Sometimes when you are using thin paper and a very sticky mat it can be hard to get the paper off without ripping it.

#5 - Cricut Trimmer

I really love this paper cutter. My favorite feature is that it comes with 2 blades, one for cutting and one for scoring! The Cricut trimmers are only $6.50 does anyone else remember when paper cutters were like $20?  

That's all for Lesson #1! Please let me know if you have any questions.

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