Cricut Maker®, Champagne, Value Bundle

This is all my wife wanted for Christmas. I was lucky enough to find it through the Wal-Mart App. Our local Walmart was out and it was not available online either. The app let me by from a Walmart about 35 miles from me and I was able to pick it up the next morning. My wife has a Cricut Expression and wanted to upgrade because this one csn use different materials. She loves it. Said there will be a bit of a learning curve from the older one. Shes already made a mug for my son and a shirt for herself.

The Cricut Maker is the most versatile die cutting machine out there, it is also one of the most popular and that is for good reason. The ease of use is without a doubt hard to compete with, if you have an idea and are unsure how to go about it, they have an amazing online community that is very active. They have a proprietary software called Design Space which is very user friendly, and will have you making stickers and shirts in no time. However, it is such a versatile tool capable of so much more so dont get bogged down by the projects you see online, think outside of the box. With optional media such as chipboard, craftboard, leather, aluminum sheets, and much more there is really no limit to what you can create. If you have been on the fence, I cannot suggest strongly enough that you just make the commitment. You will be glad you did, you should also get a notebook to jot down the ideas that come to you when you realize the capabilities of the Maker. Walmart does offer a 4 year protection plan on craft devices at a very reasonable rate, if you are like me, you are a little nervous to use a heftier investment that is new to you. Having that peace of mind is a total game changer for all your making.

So far I'm LOVING this machine!! I've had it about a month and learning the different features, but I love it. It's beautiful, works well, and relatively easy to learn. I also love that you can get app to work with the design space even if your computer is unavailable. For me it's much easier on the computer, but the app allows me to get my idea and design started and then I can fine tune sizes etc better on computer later. It comes with the rotary blade (great for felt) and the fine point blade (vinyl, cardstock) and two sticky mats. Sadly I didn't notice it doesn't come with tools so you should def buy a set of weeding tools and scrapers for it when you purchase. I may update my review as time goes on since I'm a first time Cricut user, but so far this is a great purchase and paid for itself in no time.

This machine does it all! I have used it to cut vinyl, card stock, freezer paper, etc. I have made so many things: Christmas ornaments, t shirts, custom name door mats, etc. I can't stop crafting!

The Cricut is supposed to the ultimate cutting machine. After having some issues with the Air 2, I decided maybe this would be better made. It does feel more solid weighing around 8 lbs. more. I liked the option of using the extra tools although I plan on doing mostly paper crafts, vinyl, and iron on. Accessories I like include debossing tip, wavy blade, and perforated blade. The engraving tip might be useful too. Rotary blade, included, is great for people who like to sew. The optional scoring blade is supposed to work better than the scoring stylus that can be purchased for the Air 2. Both the Cricut Maker and Air 2 can use the same fine point, deep cut, and bonded fabric blade. A new accessory foil transfer kit also works with both models. Super cool! I absolutely fell in love with all the different projects I could create with this machine. I had big plans. I began working on cards, monograms for cups, t-shirt designs, cute paper flowers, and more. Less than two weeks later I began to get error messages, which varied. They included the machine settings could not be recognized, custom materials warnings, connection issues etc. I tried using a Windows pc, MacBook Pro, iPad, iPhone, setting the machine up again, deleting and reinstalling the software, my Internet, hotspot Internet, etc. Turns out the glitch was related to the Cricut suddenly not being recognized by Cricut's servers. All my projects were put on hold as I had to wait until Monday for Cricut to remote into the machine to "fix" this. I am not sure why they cannot make this file available to the consumer. Great! Error message about custom materials was now gone. But, the blade no longer made contact with the material at all. I ended up having to return the Maker. I am undecided on whether to try this machine again or another Air. I think Air issues might have been because I was a new user, but his Maker was defective. The takeaway from this is you will absolutely love all the possibilities you will have with the Maker, but consider taking out the optional product protection insurance. I had no issues with Cricut as they were very helpful. However, without optional insurance, the customer is on their own after the warranty expires. Internet access is required. Although you can save projects and work on them offline, this is not a standalone program. Internet is required to retrieve machine settings and new projects. BTW, you can upload your own projects! The Maker is the model for people who are serious about cutting leather, fabrics, and engraving. While I still thought the extra cost was worth it for me. I had issues that made me think sometimes buying a more basic machine may be more reliable. The YouTube videos are very helpful in obtaining more info about the cool features of either Maker or Air. I love that Walmart carries the Explore, Joy, and Maker often for the best price around, offers product protection insurance, and many supplies.

First of all, I love the machine, it's great. MORE IMPORTANTLY: Cricut has promised for years that "creative freedom should always be free" and that their software is "always free to use." But recently they've made a change - you can only upload 20 images per calendar month for free. I can go through 20 uploads in a single project. Want more? That'll cost you $10/month. There is no other program that makes this machine cut, you HAVE TO PAY THEM RENT ON A MACHINE YOU ALREADY OWN. It's ridiculous, abhorrent and MASSIVELY anti-consumer. I WOULD NOT have purchased this product had I know this was part of the deal. It is a disgusting bait-and-switch on Cricut's part. But after 1 project a month, I have a $400 paperweight. Do yourself a favor and buy a Silhouette Cameo instead.

This was a gift for my wife for the 11th anniversary of when we first started going out and she was so excited about it. She likes sewing and was looking forward to using it for many of her projects. We received it yesterday (pretty fast shipping and seamless delivery) and were planning to make a little party of opening it after the toddler slept off. However, the rotary blade which is used to cut fabric is missing from the box. We checked the machine, the packing materials and everything that came in the box and no rotary cutter. That was such a let down. And now when I checked walmart.com, the price of the machine is now more than $200 higher so returning and buying a new one would be very costly.

The machine is quite nice, but it is tied to proprietary software controlled by the company. They can (and have recently) changed their software in an effort to extract more money for features that were previously free. There is no open source alternative, and any projects you make must go through this software.

What a waste of time and money. I came from the silhouette cameo because of the cricut claiming to cut wood. It's so slow and the software is awful! The worst thing about it, after paying over $300 cricut says they are going to start charging a monthly fee. Don't buy.

I bought this for my wife a christmas present. Now they changed their rules and want to charge you to use the thing we already own. You can only cut so much (20 cuts) on it before they require you to pay them more money.