Cricut ignited the crafting scene with the original Cricut crafting machine. While the original was designed with serious crafters in mind, the Cricut Joy is more approachable.
Measuring merely 12 x 20 cm and weighing less than 1,75 kilograms, the Joy is 75 percent smaller and lighter than its older sibling. The Cricut Joy can be plopped down just about anywhere and crafting can begin. The price is smaller, too. You can pick one up for just over R3 000.
Simple yet versatile
The Cricut Joy is limited to cutting and drawing. That might sound basic for seasoned Cricut crafters, but it’s plenty for newcomers and its simplicity is its greatest strength.
There are also only a few components on the device you need to interact with. There’s a lid that flips down to close the machine; a clamp that swivels open and closed; and the tool housing, where you’ll drop in pens or blades (one of each comes included).
The machine can cut more than 50 materials – including iron film, card paper, vinyl, paper and Smart Materials – and handle super-light, super-long cuts without a cutting mat required when using larger Cricut machines.
The machine can draw every shape and write in a variety of styles. It can cut individual shapes up to 1,2 m long and make repeated cuts up to 6 m long.
Getting started
To get started on your first project you’ll connect the machine via Bluetooth to Cricut’s Design Space software. Design space can be used on PC, Mac, iOS, and Android devices.
There’s a little bit of a learning curve in getting to grips with the software, but simple designs, like making a greeting card or cutting a T-shirt transfer, are really easy to pull off. This is especially true when sourcing designs from the wealth of ready-to-cut projects available from Cricut Design Space.
Design Space is free; you can upload your own images or choose from a variety of premade shapes, graphics, and designs to create your own projects. But the possibilities really open up with a Cricut Access account. It offers a much larger catalogue of designs, though it costs R100 per month (or R83 per month if you go with the annual plan).
If your crafting creativity is bubbling over, or you are looking for a new home hobby, the Cricut Joy is a wonderful device to turn inspiration into functional art. It scores 5 out of 5.
5.0 out of 5.0 stars
