This is something I posted on my FB crafting group: I became a proud owner of a Cricut Explore Air last October. And as with most onlinepanies nowadays, the bare minimum onlinees with the machine to get you started. One pen, one German carbide blade (junk, but I will save that for another day), the machine, a pen, a carrying bag, a regular mat (again, almost useless), and a couple of scraps of paper for an introduction project. The Cricut doesn’t even give everything for the first project to be “clean.” So I wanted to make a list of things that I think you should go on ahead and buy along with your machine.
1. The Cricut Scorer-this scores your paper to make clean folding lines-essential for making folded cards.
2. Paper and/or cardstock- Michael’s often places both on sale.
3. Adhesive of your choice. It is hard to put a project together without it.😉
4. The Cricut Light Grip mat-I hate, hate, hate the standard grip mat. Mine was bent in the box, and honestly, I still haven’t been to straighten it. Anyway, I hate this mat because it is WAY too sticky and rips paper and cardstock easily. When you do get your cuts lifted, they usually pull the adhesive off the mat also. It also is difficult to clean and because of this and the cuts lifting the adhesive, it looses its stickiness quickly. There is a small window of “perfection.” This is where the light grip mat steps in. It is easy to clean and I can easily lift my cuts without them ripping. This mat is still going strong after 3 months. My standard one went kaput after a month.
There you have it! This is what I feel like you need to get started along with your Cricut cutting machine. What did you find that you needed to get started?
