Cricut Joy: Have Cricut. Will Travel

Cricut machines are traditionally a little bulky. It can be a little inconvenient to take it out of the house on vacation or to someone else’s house for a crafting night. Enter Cricut Joy. At 5.5″ x 8.4″ x 4.25″ and weighing in at just under 4 lbs, it’s the perfect travel companion for crafters. And oh boy is it cute!

While it doesn’t have as big of a crafting footprint as its counterparts, the Cricut Joy is perfect for those that have little projects they want to complete and don’t want the bulk of the traditional Cricut machine. It’s also great for beginners in this world. It operates 100% wirelessly and you can use your computer or your phone (android or iOS) with the Cricut Design Space app.

In the Cricut Design Space app, you will find free and paid templates and projects for your creative heart.

Need a little superhero in your life? Check out the latest collection of images from Warner Bros. – Justice League featuring Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, the Flash, Aquaman, and a few villains. The actual character files are a bit intense for me in terms of using in a project, but their symbols are easy enough for a beginner to try out. Each file is $1.99. Check out Cricut’s blog to learn how to make your own superhero-inspired mask.

IMAGE OF SUPERHERO IMAGES AVAILABLE IN DESIGN SPACE

What Comes In The Box

Cricut Joy machine
Blade and blade housing (pre-installed in the machine)
Fine point pen, black (0.4 mm)
Standard grip matt, 4.5″ x 6.5″
Welcome card
Power adapter
Free 30-day trial access to Cricut Access for new subscribers
50 ready-to-make projects online
Materials for a practice cut.

What You Will Need

Computer or phone (iOS or Android) with Bluetooth capability
Internet connection (just for initial setup and if you want to download projects)
Imagination!

Using The Cricut Joy

Taking the Joy out of its box and getting crafting takes as little as 10 minutes max. Find a project you want to try out in the design store and get cutting!

The machine itself is not the quietest thing you will have in your house, but you can easily watch TV or carry on a conversation around it while it does its thing.

You can cut and draw projects 4.5 inches wide by 4 feet long. If you are doing a repeated cut you can go up to 20 feet in length. The cutting mats themselves are 4.25 inches by 6.25 inches and 4.25 inches by 11.75 inches. How can you cut up to 20 feet in length then? Easy. You use smart vinyl or smart iron-on materials. With the smart materials, you don’t actually need a mat to hold your material for you. It’s a great little convenience and only available on the Joy.

Get Crafting: Making A Card

One of the cool tools you can only use with the Joy is the Cricut card mat that lets you easily create greeting cards with less effort than it takes with a traditional Cricut. To be honest, making cards is one of my favorite things to do with my Joy and the card mat makes it unbelievable easier.

I prefer to do all my creating on my iPhone.

I find the project I want to create (some fees apply to certain designs).

Add it to my canvas.

Gather my supplies (some projects require pens, markers, or other tools)

And finally, I send it to the machine. The app will tell me what tool to put in first whether it be the cutting tool, a marker, or a pen.

As it progresses, it may stop for you to insert the next tool and it will do this until it completes the project. You will know when the project is complete because your computer/phone will let you know and it will eject the material from the machine.

TIP: To add a custom message inside the card, pick a “writing style” font from the Cricut font selection. This will ensure that you don’t get a font that is drawn instead of written.

But Wait! There’s More: Other Projects

While cards are my favorite thing to do with Joy, you can make other things like iron on decals, vinyl stickers, and other papercrafts. The Joy is also compatible with the infusible ink products.

Something else I’ve used my Joy for is creating custom stickers for my Happy Planner. I created a migraine sticker with a rating system as well as a battery sticker that I color in my energy level for the day. I did this with the writable smart vinyl.

The Design Space is full of projects you can explore and if all else fails, Pinterest always has your back.

Final Thoughts

The Cricut Joy is a fun little machine for beginner crafters who want to get their feet wet or want a machine that is portable. Materials range between $7 and up depending on the project. Pens average about $9 for a pack of three depending on the store you are getting them from. And while the greeting card packs are great, you don’t have to use them to create your perfect card, but the packs along with the card mat makes making a greeting card that much easier.

The Cricut Joy is available now wherever Cricut products are sold and retails for $179.99. A nice little price for a little machine with lots of potential.