Cricut Joy Reviews

A Lovely And Compact Machine

Cricut machines are the Thermomix of the crafting world – a status symbol with an avid following and a justified love for Cricut. most of Cricut’s crafting machines are quite large for the average user who just wants to spread some joy among friends and family – enter the Cricut Joy. It’s a more compact version of other Cricut machines, opening up more opportunities for crafty types, and it’s a perfect machine if you’re short on space and just want to get creative. Think of the Cricut as a plotter that cuts and plots. At the very least, it’s suitable for cardstock, vinyl and iron-on transfers. Attach a blade or marker to the Cricut Joy and it will cut or draw onto these materials with precision.

Cricut Joy Overview

The Cricut Joy is probably the smallest electronic die cutter on the market. It is about 1/3 the size and weight of its brothers, the Cricut Explore Air 2 and Cricut Maker. Its size makes it very portable and perfect for craft shows, cutting retreats, trips to the cabin, or even just moving around the house. Aside from being small and cute, its biggest claim to fame is its ability to make matless cuts using Cricuts new Smart Material. This matless cutting feature is new to the Cricut cutter, which means you can cut unique designs up to 4 feet long or repeat designs up to 20 feet long.

The Cricut Joy is limited to cutting and writing. It does a good job at these, but they are the only two functions this machine can do. So if you want to make more complex projects involving scoring, then you will need to use a different machine or do it by hand. The Joy excels at making narrow projects with vinyl, iron-on and paper. It can also create beautifully intricate cards in minutes using its innovative new card pads.

Overall, the Cricut Joy is a handy little machine that is perfect for small projects and excels at making cards. It can cut your standard materials such as vinyl, paper and iron-on. Read on to learn all about the features of this machine.

Details And Features Of Cricut Joy

1. Cutting forces and cutting dimensions

One of the best features of the Joy is the cutting length. As I mentioned before, it can cut individual designs up to 4 feet long. If you have a duplicate design, it can be up to 20 feet long. But you are limited to a maximum width of 4.5 inches. So it’s great for long, skinny projects.

The other thing to keep in mind about the cut size is that 4.5 inches is the maximum cut size you can make with Cricuts Smart Materials. Smart Materials is technically 5.5 inches wide, but the machine needs 1/2 inch on each side to allow the rollers to feed the material into the machine. Also only with Smart Materials can you cut those 4′ and 20′ items.

If you are using a cutting mat, the maximum width of cut drops to 4.25 inches and the maximum length is 11.75 inches, provided you are using one of the long cutting mats. Otherwise, if you are using the included cutting mat, the maximum size you can cut is designed to be 4.25 inches x 6.25 inches.

2. Material Sensors

One of the really cool features of the Cricut Joy is its material sensor. When using Smart Materials, Joy checks to see if you have inserted a large enough piece of material before you start cutting. This saves you the pain of cutting your project because one corner of your design is already free of material.

Unfortunately, this only applies to smart materials and Joy is unable to check the size of the material while using the mat. Joy will also check the alignment of the material as it is fed in. It will ensure that your smart material or mat is properly aligned in the machine before you start cutting.

3. Bluetooth connectivity

Joy’s sleek design has no buttons or plugs other than the power supply. This means you have to connect your machine to your computer, phone or tablet via Bluetooth. It also means there is no power button, so if your machine is plugged in, it will turn on.

4. Cricut Design Space Software

Design Space is a free downloadable software created by Cricut for use on their machines.Design Space is compatible with Windows and Mac computers, as well as an iOS app and an Android app.

Cricut Design Space allows you to import and edit pre-made designs not only from Cricut itself, but also from other designers on the Internet. You can import SVG files as well as JPEGs, BMPs, etc. Cricut also has a membership to access a large number of designs and fonts, called Cricut Access.

5 Things You Can Do With Cricut Joy

1. Decorative stickers and decals

Cricut Joy can cut detailed stickers and vinyl for almost anything, including phone cases, water bottles, windows, furniture and more. Customize that boring coffee mug or cup with an inspiring message, image or even a photo. Or, if you run your own business, you can create promotional decals and stickers.

2. Custom Heat Transfer and Iron-On for Apparel and Fabrics

This little machine cuts out detailed heat transfers and iron-on transfers that you can apply to clothing, textiles and fabrics. Use these irons to decorate t-shirts, baby grows, upholstered furniture and more with special messages and images.

3. Unique greeting cards and gift tags

With Cricut Joy UK, you can quickly create custom greeting cards. In addition to writing perfect writing and cutouts, Cricut Joy also allows you to create cutout cards using Cricut card pads (sold separately).

4. Fun Banners and Party Decorations

Let the party begin with Cricut Joy! It can cut out stickers or write text, perfect for banners for parties and special occasions. Or, use it to write the perfect invitations and make other special decorations. Using the optional foil stamping tool (sold separately), you can also emboss foil images, lines and text onto paper to create beautiful invitations and menus.

5. Organize Labels

Get organized with Cricut Joy. Use it to cut out custom labels for your food containers, drawers and storage. Or, use it to create labels for your journals, diaries, calendars, textbooks, etc. Cricut Joy can also be used for school or work projects and home crafts.

How Do You Use It?

When you get your Cricut Joy machine, you will need to download the appropriate app on your phone to help you design and use the system properly. There are over 130,000 images to choose from on the system, including thousands of designs for cards, labels and more.

Load the app on your mobile or desktop version and choose your design, or create your own. Follow the on-screen instructions to customize it as much as possible using the design space.

Load your machine with materials (whether card, paper, vinyl or other), click “Start” on the app, and watch the machine cut or write your design.

Once you have finished cutting or writing, unload the material and, depending on your design, you may have to use a tool to complete your creation. In the case of card, use a tool to remove any parts; in the case of vinyl, a squeegee and some transfer tape will be needed to attach your design to the surface of the item (such as a mug).

Cricut Joy And The Competition

When weighing the advantages and disadvantages of comparable Cricut products, the Joy is by far the most basic model. It offers only cutting and drawing capabilities. It runs on Cricut Design applications like the Explore Air 2 and Cricut Maker.

The Explore Air 2 is a mid-sized machine for the more serious craftsman. It offers more powerful features, cutting options and material choices, including fabric (great for quilting). It can cut materials up to 11.5 inches wide, but not 4 to 20 feet long like the Joy. It’s more expensive than the Joy, but not as expensive as the Maker.

The Cricut Maker is the top of the line for Cricut machines. There’s nothing that can’t be cut. It offers a wider selection of blades and materials to engrave, dimple, score and punch. This machine is for those who make daily to weekly. If you run a business or are constantly trying new ideas, this machine is better for you. It’s an investment, but for a dedicated DIYer, it may be worth it.

Final thoughts?

The Cricut Joy is indeed a very clever device that is not only portable, but also gives you the option to make some very special labels, stickers, cards and even banners as some of the materials it can be made from.

Thankfully, thanks to the Cricut community, it’s very easy to use and has a plethora of additional designs at your fingertips. While you do need to purchase official Cricut Smart Materials for prints, these are relatively inexpensive and can be purchased at traditional brick and mortar stores or online.

All in all, Cricut Joy is a clever and smart product that makes some impressive products for the real world, such as stickers, labels, banners and birthday cards. You’re just limited by your imagination!