Cricut Explore Air 2 - A DIY Cutting Machine for all Crafts, Create Customized Cards, Home Decor & More, Bluetooth Connectivity, Compatible with iOS, Android, Windows & Mac, Mint

This has been so fun to use

This is what I would call an initial review, and will probably come back and add more as I can use this more often. I waffled back and forth between the Cricut Explore Air 2 and the Cricut Maker. In the end, because I am just a hobbyist interested in playing with a new device, I decided to go with the cheaper option. And I must say I am glad I did. Included in the box is enough card stock to run through a simple card to help get everything set up. There is no software to install on your computer; everything is run through a cloud site. You just need to set up an account with Cricut and you are on your way. I walked through the sample card and it was cut and ready within minutes. I also bought some of the Cricut brand vinyl and transfer tape from Wal-Mart, to see how well that works. I used the vinyl as a stencil for a couple wood signs, using both Apple Barrel acrylic paint and spray paint. The lines were clean and sharp, and the final product came out clean. The sign art was designed using Gimp and was imported directly to the Cricut cloud software. I do wish the Cricut came with the 24” mat, instead of the 12”, but that’s just because I have a few bigger ideas I want to do and the larger mat would be helpful. All said and done, I would definitely recommend this for anyone who is interested in working with the Cricut but doesn’t want to shell out the extra money for the bells and whistles of the Maker.

Makes my work perfect

This is an extraordinary machine! I had no idea of the hundreds of things you can do with it. I am a mix media artist and love crafting as well, specially with fabric and paper and this machine fits exactly for crafters or hobby. The Cricut works beautifully and the cuts are neat and fabulous. I dont have to buy doilies, envelopes cards, stencils, paper boxes, etc. etc. The possibilities are endless. The instructions are good, but it takes some time to really start with projects. It took me around two days, 3 hours a day, to learn the features and different designs, which is OK because the final product looks so professional that is worth the time to learn. Its amazing in how it can cut tiny details. If you are planning to use the Cricut with different projects and materials, I would recommend to get the three cutting mats. The machine comes already with a 12 x 12 regular mat, but there are some materials like heavy chipboard, felt and thick paper or fabric that will require a stronger blade and strong mat which is light violet in color. The other mat is for thin, fine, or light materials. In addition you can also purchase the 12 x 24 mat as well which is useful for big letters or banners. The only Con I found was the size of the cut and print feature. The machine can only print a cut no larger than 6 x 8 I called the company, and was informed that they are working on this issue, but have no exact date on when the upgrade for 12 x 12 prints will be available. In my case, so far I dont use it that much, but if you are going to cut transfers for t shirts, then I would not recommend it until the upgrade for larger cut and prints is available. The machine is a light and thin beautiful design and color. I had no problem in looking for a space in my crowded tiny craft room. I only had to place it in a book shelve I emptied and fit perfectly together with the tools, (not included) which I dont find that expensive. It comes with lots of images free , However, I would suggest that for only $7.99 a month you can have thousands of images, projects, and fonts. Any month you dont want to use the images, then you dont pay the $7.99 or $9.99, which is worth it. Customer Service is excellent as well as their chatting and lots of videos, projects, and endless ideas. Finally, you will not regret buying it.

It cuts but the learning curve is lengthy. I bought this machine to cut my product labels but it doesn’t properly cut a full page. The cuts are a little off and wastes paper and money during the learning curve. It also doesn’t let you print the entire page only 6x9 of paper. So it wastes paper and sticker paper especially waterproof sticker paper isn’t that cheap but overall it’s just a waste of paper. I haven’t used it in months because I can’t afford for it to keep wasting my paper and time. I really want it to be of use to me though, so I guess I’ll give it another try.

This made life crafting so much easier love it!!!!

So far, so good

My wife loves this thing and for that reason so did I. Seeing the pure joy in her eyes was rivaled only by things like our wedding day and our childrens births. As time has gone by though Im beginning to suspect that she loves it more than she loves me. She spends all her time with it and when shes not using it shes talking about it. Shes taken to snuggling it in bed and when I came home from work the other day it was sitting in my chair at the dinner table. My children call it Daddy. I was getting tired of it and tried to confront it but my dog started snarling at me. Its too late for me but youve been warned: this machine is a homewrecker.

Se me dañó rápido, no duró un año

Wife likes this a lot better than cameo, and this is so much quieter! Cameo is silly loud. Just wish this came with transfer paper. She wasnt able to complete her first project because there was not transfer paper included.