what do I need when i first buy a Cricut?

What do I need when i first buy a cricut?

When i bought my cricut, i didn't exactly research what else came with the packaging. So i was a bit sad when i found out that i had to buy a mat seperately. Because if you don't have the smart materials, you cannot get any work done without the mat. 

And i had to wait until the mat had arrived. And it took a bit of a long time delaying all the rest of my processes. Anyway. If you're thinking about buying a Cricut explore, or cricut joy, or cricut maker you should buy a mat seperately. Unless the cricut comes with the essential set, you will not be getting a mat with your packaging and if like me, you're an impatient fellow, this waiting with a beautiful die cutting machine sitting there all by itself can be quite agonizing. 

So get yourself a mat. 

Which mat? 

I'd suggest you go for the standard mat, if you do not have a project in particular in myour mind. If you do have any idea already, then understand what kind of a material the project requires and get a mat suited to that need. For example of you need to cut felt, do buy the fabric mat. And this is because each type of mat have a different type of sticky level. If you go stick your vinyl sticker sheet on to tlyour strong grip mat, you'll definitely end up tearing and damaging a whole sheet! So always check the mat guide whatever your project may be. This wasy it'll be easier for you and save your mats from damaging early.

It would also be best to buy two mats together. Because you will definitely damage your mat in your first many tries. And when you feel like you're ready to take on as a better cricut crafter, you can always go for the second one that you've kept ready. 

Now, other than the mat what else will you need? I would definitely recommend a spatula. A good one. Because i didn't buy one for my first few projects and ending up getting a lot of paper cuts from all the clean cut paper the machine made. Its not just about the paper cuts that i had sustained, i also ended up damaging  intricate cuts and thereby ruining my projects altogether. Sometimes i pulled out the stickers off of its adhesive backings!

So yep definitely get a spatula. 

If your focus is mostly on vinyl based projects, you could go for the Weeding Tool as well. But then again, you don't exactly have to buy a cricut brand weeding tool. There are lots of substitutes for it. Once you feel like you need it, of you've got a heavy weeding load ahead of you, then you could go for it. But as a beginner, you should do fine without it. 

You need to know that you'll get a starter pack with your Cricut. And this includes a few cricut smart materials for your first few projects. Cricut Design Space will guide you along the process. It is quite simple and you'll be making projects after projects in no time.

I think that that's all that you need to know about the things that you'll definitely need the first time you buy your Cricut. Now if you're looking for more projects or details about the cricut machines

Go ahead and jump onto the portal links below

@cricut

I'm a cricut crafter from the UAE and so i follow

@cricut_mea

Incase you're from UAE, I'd suggest you to follow the page of you don't want to miss out on exciting offers and product launches! 

Incase you'd like to take a peek at my insta profile,

Here you go @scissors_tale.uae although you need to know that most of my cricut related experiments are shared mostly on my YouTube channel.

Image courtesy to the happy cricut crafter above: marina.sewandcrafts