A Beginner's Cricut Explore Take One!

Hi everyone, Sandy here with my new crafty item....Cricut Explore One!

This will be my 5th Cricut Machine and I was reluctant to "learn" something new. I figured if it is not broke, dont fix it and my Expressions 2/ Cricut Craft Room was just fine. BOY WAS I WRONG!!!!! The main, ok, only reason I was interested in the newer machine is I heard you can cut digital images with it. Now that peaked my interested since I do a TON of digis and am so tired of fussy cutting them out.

Now, I did purchase this by accident, I thought I was getting the Cricut Explore with dual cartridges, but when I clicked purchase, I realized it was too good of a buy and the order went thru. I did have a $50 credit and with this being on sale for $149.99 at Cricut.com, it was just at $100. Here is my machine (these are stock images from the Cricut site).

As you can see, there is only one carriage. However, it takes just seconds to swap out the blade with the score tool or marker pens. The Design Studio tells you exactly what to do and when, it is so user friendly, I almost cried the first time, lol!!!!

All you have to do is open the little swing lever, take out your blade and pop in your pen, close the lever and hit cut. The adapter piece did come with the machine along with the power cable, usb, one piece of gray vinyl and quick set up guide. When you first start, the DS (Design Studio) uses the vinyl to make your first project which you can skip if you want.

This is the image that it does and I recommend doing it to get your feet wet. I put this on the top of my machine too. I am never worked with vinyl before... ummm, I have 5 rolls on its way from Michael's, lol!!!! Beware of the Vinyl Bug!!!! LOL

Mini haul from Tuesday Morning... American Crafter vinyl only $2.00!!!

Ok, so now I have to learn Design Studio. But if you are used to working with the CCR, this is a piece of cake. Plus, I got my machine the day after DS 3 came out so it is not like I have to learn all the new bells and whistles all over again.

I swear I must have watched 50 DS videos on You Tube while I was waiting for my machine!

So I figured, if I was going to learn my new machine, GO BIG AND DIVE IN!!!! So did I do a simple cut, heck now, I made a pop box card, a 3d cake card, and cut out digital stamps. But I am not showing those right now because they are for the upcoming video hop and challenge... okay you twisted my arm. Here is a sneak peak of what I did...

I also figured out how to not only cut out digi stamps, but my clear stamp also, without needing to scan. I could not find a video on how to do it, but I knew there had to be a way. After trial and error, I figured it out!!!! GO ME!!! LOL!!

Now for tonight's card! I did the Cricut fussy cut on the floral stamp from Altenew "Best Mom",

cut out a lattice background and figured out how to write and cut out a cute label. I colored in the label with gel pens.

Here is the final card:

I guess the moral if the story is don't let the unknown stop you from creating. There is plenty of resources and help in your journey. Just do it!

I hope this inspires you Newbies like me to jump right in! I was thinking of doing a Newbie Cricut You Tube Series. What do you all think? Let me know in the comments if this would interest you. Also scroll down and you will find the link to this card in DS. I made it public so if you want the label or to know where I got the frame, you can find it there. Thanks for stopping by!

My You Tube Channel click Here

SBC Facebook Group

SBC Facebook Page