If you’re fed up with generic cards bought at the store that don’t convey the message you want to send, or if you’re like me and have an inflated ego and think “I could do something better than that,” you’re in luck. With the new Cricut Joy Cutaway cards, you can test this ego and make unique cards for your friends and family.
For me, nothing is more special than receiving a personalized card that someone was dedicated to making and designing. It’s almost like a gift in itself. Seeing someone you love love the card you made just for him is just as rewarding.
We’ve reviewed Cricut Joy before, but the good people at Cricut got in touch to see if we wanted to try out their new Cutaway Cards. Obviously, I took the opportunity because I saw the opportunity to use letters as a way to start my own small side print business.
Wait, what is a Joy Cricut?
Look how beautiful Cricut Joy is. (Image: supplied)
In case you’ve never heard of Cricut before and are confused about what a Cricut Joy is, let me tell you quickly.
Cricut is home to many amazing DIY devices that basically work like a printer, but instead of using only ink, they can use a sheet, pen, or tool to cut, draw, engrave, engrave, punch, or paint any material. with which you work. .
Oh, and it’s not just limited to paper – you can also cut vinyl, make ironing patches, and more.
For this review, they gave me the Cricut Joy to try and just let me say it is the prettiest machine ever.
Before we delve into the actual review, one thing I want to say is how easy it is to use is Cricut Joy. You don’t really need to be a professional to use the machine and the tools help you every step of the way.
What’s new with Cutaway Cards?
So now that you know Cricut Joy, what is all this about cut cards?
If you’re looking to make healthier, handmade, and personalized cards without having to make every effort to use glue, scissors, and pens, Cutaway Cards are exactly what you need.
To save me from explaining in detail what cut cards are and how they differ from regular old cards, here’s a quick video showing you how to use them.
Sounds too easy to be true, right? Well, I’m here to tell you that it’s very easy to use cutting cards at Cricut Joy.
If you are familiar with Cricut Joy and have used their insert cards before, you would probably know that the design elements were quite limited. However, Cricut has removed (understand?) These issues and you can now trim any design or font you want.
This also means that your cards no longer have to be joined and that you don’t have to cut the corners of the card yourself because Miss Joy will do it all for you.
Making the best birthday cards
By the time I was checking out Cricut Joy, it was approaching my mom’s birthday, so there was no better time to make a personalized cut card.
I wanted to try a couple of different designs with different stickers on the cards, so I used two pre-designed templates to try them out.
There are a lot of wonderful and weird designs to choose from in the Cricut Design Space app. I must say, however, that some of the most elegant designs are only available through a paid subscription to Cricut.
For total transparency, Cricut gave me free access to all of their designs so I could properly test Cutaway cards.
While it can be frustrating that only some of the designs can be accessed for a fee, the free designs are still very pretty. Plus, this is more of an incentive to design your own card.
The two cards I made for my mom were different cake designs. One with a gold metal support and another with a silver metal support. As you can see in the pictures below, they both look amazing.
Both also required minimal effort on my part. I sat down and watched Cricut Joy cut and walk away. All I had to do was change the blade for the feather and then peel (or weed) the cuttings. I have to say that watching Cricut Joy do things is very fascinating and strangely calming.
The two birthday cards I made. (Image: Lifehacker Australia)
My mom really thought I had bought the card at the store, so I don’t think you can get more praise than that.
Put stickers on everything
One aspect of Cricut Joy that really impressed me is that you don’t just make cards – you can do anything, including creating vinyl stickers.
I’m afraid I have too much power to be able to design anything to be a sticker and I can put those stickers on anything.
For example, I made a “kill” sticker to put in my water bottle because, well, I could.
I have too much power. (Image: Lifehacker Australia)
You can also make a sticker with any design you want, it doesn’t have to be just words. The possibilities are endless and I’m already thinking about all the damn stickers I can make to put on my laptop, bottles and miscellaneous items.
Using your own designs
Image: Lifehacker Australia / Ky Stewart
As I mentioned earlier, one thing that excited me a lot was the ability to put some of my designs on Cutaway cards and use them to start my own side print business. Because we all like an entrepreneur.
The kind of work of art I do is contemporary indigenous art. I just started designing on the iPad, as I usually just paint my artwork, so they’re not pretty things yet.
As a reference, I’m a Kamilaroi and Dharug person, so I think it’s great to be able to create works of art digitally and then put cards like this on it.
Uploading your designs / artwork / images to the Cricut Design Space app is very easy to do and you can adjust your design to suit the project you are working on.
In fact, I had some issues with uploading my designs to Design Space and then I had some size issues in the app.
Luckily for me, though, the good (and very patient) people at Cricut helped me solve the problems I had. Surprisingly, it turns out they were a lot of my problems and not the app or Cricut Joy.
Basically, I wasn’t saving my design in the right format and the file was too big for the size I would be drawing them on the cut cards.
Some tips that Cricut shared with me and that I collected using the machine:
- Export your layouts as a PNG file from any design application you use (I use Procreate on my iPad).
- When making your artwork on any platform you use, make sure you use the layer feature within your design to make it easier for Cricut Joy to read the different layers. This can also help if you want a specific layer to be a different color or to be cut, for example.
- Make the size of your design around the size of the cut-out card (approximately 10.8 cm x 14 cm).
- If you don’t want to cut anything and just want to draw, just load the pen you want into the clamp instead of the blade.
Once I overcame the little problems I had, uploading and creating my designs to the Cutaway Cards became a hassle-free process.
Before using the machine, I had a hard time finding a way to print my designs on the cards without this being a total disaster. But in all honesty, I am incredibly impressed with how effective and easy Cricut Joy is and the versatility of Cutaway Cards.
If you are someone who likes to design your little things, I recommend that you use Cricut Joy so that you can create personalized cards to give to loved ones. Or you can do what I’m doing and use the cut card prints as part of a business.
Final sentence
Image: Lifehacker Australia / Ky Stewart
I have to say how much I enjoyed creating with Cricut Joy and Cutaway Cards.
What’s good:
- The Joy Cricut costs $ 349, which may seem high at first, but after seeing how much you can make from it, it actually feels like a steal.
- As I mentioned, the ability to use your own designs and be creative is something I deeply value and the process was simplified effortlessly with Cricut Joy and Cutaway Cards. You can upload your designs from the Cricut Design Space app from your phone or tablet via Bluetooth.
- The best thing about Cricut Joy and Cutaway Cards is how easy they are to use. You don’t really have to be a professional to create some great letters.
What is not:
- A pack of four Cutaway cards costs $ 14.95, which in my opinion is quite expensive. Having said that, it’s not just old cards you can get at newsstands. They have their adhesive backing and are of great quality. Although the price makes sense, it is still a bit high.
- The sleekest or most advanced designs require a paid subscription which can be quite frustrating. Free designs are still fun to use, but you’re obviously limited. One advantage of this is that it can encourage you to create your own designs that are free.
Overall, the Cricut Joy is a wonderfully adorable and efficient machine. It is ideal for both experienced creatives and beginners and eliminates the difficulty of having to cut and draw everything yourself.
Cutaway Cards are also very simple to design and have become the perfect home for my creations.
Cutaway Cards are now available in Big W, online and at select stores. You can also grab a Cricut Joy from Big W. In fact, you can buy the whole Cricut from Big W.