So, you’re either planning to buy one or you just bought a Cricut. Congrats!

I’m often asked what I think some Cricut “must haves” are.

Here’s my list:

Mats:

If you have the Cricut Expression get both the 12×12 mats AND the 12×24. I’ve used the big ones for cutting out a bunch of things at once AND for making big items. I also think it’s smart to keep a set of extra mats on hand. Believe me, when you’re in the middle of a project and need a new one…that’s not the time to run out and go shopping. ** Some people re-stick their mats but I’m too impatient for that, so I just buy new ones, LOL.  Here’s a video by Robyn (aka My Pink Stamper) on how to re-stick mats.

Hey!  You can hang 2 of your mats on the wall with a single thumb tack (the tacks with the long head, not the flat one).  I do!

Cricut Spatula Tool:

It’s perfect for careful lifting of images from the Cricut mat.  You could use a credit card or something else, but why?  This tool is gentle on your paper, doesn’t harm the mat and is inexpensive.  We’re talking around $5 here.  Plus, you can clean it off with WD-40 if it gets all sticky and gross.  I know this firsthand.

Adhesives:

I love my Zig 2 Way Glue Pen.  It’s great to use to stick paper together.  It comes out blue, but dries clear.  You need one.

I also LOVE my Scotch ATG 714 gun.  You can get several different tapes for it, but I use the Scotch ATG Gold.  It’s acid free.

The ATG gun works great for permanent adhesion.  It’s the first thing I’ve ever had that actually holds things onto kid’s school project posters.  That alone should make you want one.    Also, if you pull it down the middle of a ribbon you can adhere the ribbon directly to a card or package.  So cool.  The ATG gun looks heavy, but it’s not, so don’t worry.

Get some kind of glue dots too. Like Stampin’ Dimensionals from Stampin’ Up or any kind of pop dots that you find in the hobby stores. You use them to pop paper out a little…it gives things a little lift.

Scissors:

You need a good pair of sharp scissors.  No, you can’t just use kitchen scissors or something you got on sale when you bought the kids school supplies.  I mean sharp!!  You’ll use them for cutting ribbon (so it won’t unravel and look cruddy) and for precision cutting paper when you need it.  Get these:

These are by EK Success and you’ll find them at most craft stores.  You don’t have to get a pair exactly like this, but they need to be sharp and you should get some that have a cover like these.  That way you don’t ruin the blade and it doesn’t stab you when you’re fishing around for it.

Tweezers:

I suggest getting a Tweezer Bee because you are probably going to be dealing with tiny pieces of paper at some point. It also can be used to poke out tiny paper cuts that are tough to separate. They’re perfect for any kind of heat embossing too. They’ll keep you from French frying your fingers when using a heat gun.

Things to Fold With:

You’ll want to get a bone folder to create nice smooth folds.  This is especially helpful when using a cartridge like Tags, Bags, Boxes and More, because it has a lot of folds that are necessary in order to create the boxes and bags.  Here’s what a bone folder looks like:

A bone folder will help you make the crease flat and professional, but you’ll really need a scorer to do a good job making that crease.  If you just try the bone folder on card stock without first scoring it, it will crack. It is possible to make the crease and the fold with the bone folder, but I always score first. For scoring you could go with …

Scorit.com
Scor-pal.com

OR

You could just kill two birds with one stone and get a paper trimmer with interchangeable scoring blades like this:

This one is by Fiskars.  At your local craft store, you will be able to find some kind of trimmer/scorer combo.  You’ll find the blades packaged with the item and the blades for sale separately.

Paper & Cardstock:

You should have some paper and some card stock.  They aren’t the same things.  Card stock is much thicker than regular paper.  I like DCWV card stock and K & Co. paper.  I also like paper from PaperTreyInk.com and Stampin’ Up.

Cricut Markers & Gel Pens:

The Cricut markers are fun to use!  They are available in 4 color sets: Primary, Sophisticated, Fashion and Basic.  To use the markers, you take out the cutting blade and put the marker in its place to draw instead of cut.  I have used this method to outline a cut before I actually cut it out.  It’s a cool way to give dimension.  (Or fool friends that you can draw great, LOL.)

Here’s a card I made where I used a black Cricut marker to outline the word “happy”:

Click on the photo to go to the post where I explain how to use the markers.  You’ll be able to see a larger picture of the card there too.

There are also Gel Mini Pens for the Cricut, but they are not made by Provo Craft.  You can find them here:

Gel Mini Pens

One lady had her husband make a mini gel pen/mini Sharpie holder for her Cricut and now they sell them here:

Mini Gel Pen/Mini Sharpie Holder

Less expensive than a holder and mini pens are these:

What I’ve found that works GREAT and doesn’t need a special holder are QuicKutz Silhouette Sketch Pens.  They’re AWESOME!!  They give a thin line as opposed to a fat marker line.  They fit right into your holder, just like the Cricut markers!!

I used them here to outline “Thank You” in green.

Cricut Cartridges:

Well, I think most of them are “must haves” LOL!

Here’s a link to all of the cartridges and what they offer.

You should get at least one font cartridge, I think.  I LOVE Lyrical Letters for fonts.  I also love Sesame Street Fonts.  It’s all just personal preference.  The cases that are orange on the sides are font carts and the blue ones are mostly images.  Green are educational.  Now, that doesn’t mean that they only are those things.  You’ll find images on font carts and fonts on image carts.  You’ll find all kinds of things on the education carts, especially My World and My Community.  Well, I love them all.

Nice to Also Have These Items:

Cricut Jukebox

The Jukebox can hold 6 Cricut cartridges at once.  It can also hold the overlays and booklets inside it.  I think it is a MUST HAVE if you’re planning on using Design Studio.  It keeps you from having to switch cartridges all the time.  This was extremely helpful for me when I was doing this huge ABC Book project.  It would have taken me forever if I’d had to keep switching cartridges all the time.

Design Studio

Super fun!  Design Studio is software made by Provo Craft. Your Cricut works with your computer and your cartridges to make specially created cuts.  YOU NEED A COMPUTER FOR THIS!  Not only can you create your own designs using all of the Cricut cartridges you have, you can also download designs other people have made (found in different places on the Internet).  The only catch is, you can’t cut anything that you don’t have a cartridge for.  Here’s something I used Design Studio to create:

15 b’day card

If you don’t have Design Studio yet, you can download a FREE TRIAL VERSION here: DS Trial Version from Provo Craft/Cricut

The DS Free Trial version only allows you to cut with the cartridge that originally came with your machine, but you can LOOK at all the cartridge contents for all of the carts that are currently on Design Studio. It’s a good way to decide if a cartridge is a “must have” for you or not. Plus it’s fun to play with! Also, just using the trial version of DS I was able to make these projects:

Here’s what I Made with the Free Trial Version of Design Studio:

Alley Book

Top Secret Book

Provo Craft GYPSY

Instead of getting the Jukebox and Design Studio…you could buy the Gypsy!!  I LOVE mine and it has replaced my need for Design Studio and the Jukebox because it holds all of your cartridges in its memory AND you can use it to design.  It’s portable too!  However, it does cost around $300, so you if you’re not in the market for that right now, the Jukebox and Design Studio will do the same thing, for less!!  (Um, except they’re not as portable!)

Here’s a link to Provo Craft’s Gypsy Site where you can learn more about it.

Here’s a link to all of the things I’ve done so far with my Gypsy.

SCAL – “Sure Cuts A Lot”

“Sure Cuts A Lot” is a software program that allows you to cut your True Type fonts and various shapes on your Cricut.   You can combine your Fonts and import custom artwork (SVG) files.

MTC – Make the Cut

Make The Cut allows you to easily cut virtually any shape you can imagine (including TrueType Fonts) using your Cricut™ machine without needing to purchase expensive cartridges.

I love this program!!  You should either just buy right now or at least try a free trial download of Make the Cut.  It’s so simple and fun.

Here’s the 1st thing I made with Make the Cut.

Try out the trial by clicking here: Free Trial Download of Make the Cut.

It’s so much easier than SCAL!! (Well, I think so.)

I hope this gets you started!!

~Joy~