Last week I decided to get a Cricut Air.

I have now owned 3 Cricuts.  I started with the original and then bought the Expressions and now the  Explore Air.

I am really new to the Design Space, the software needed to run Explore, but I have been asked to teach classes at the start of next year using the Cricut and their new software so I bought me one.

So far (after only a few days) here is what my thoughts are:

1.  I love that it is wireless!  I can sit in my bed, play around on my lap top and then cut out the projects later, all without those cords getting in the way.

2. Every thing I have cut comes out clean and sharp, even the small pieces. I haven't had a chance to do a ton with it so I don't know how long the blade or mat will last, but so far so good.

3.  You don't have to have cartridges, in fact they really don't work at all with the  Air. All you do is link your cartridges and then use the software to use your images.

4. You can purchase individual images or the entire cartridge on line and it will download to you
files.

5. That leads to one of the "dislikes".  I like using my computer to create projects but the Design Space is "web- based".  That means, no internet, no using the machine. For some that might not be a big deal but I go to lots of crops and teach classes, and lets face it, I live out in the "boonies" where on occasion,  the internet reception is null.  This means no crafting when the web is down.

6. Another "dis-like" is the subscription plan.  You can pay a fee (about $10 per month) and have accesses to most of the images for that month, but the images are never yours.  If you discontinue your subscription you lose access to all those files and if you want to use them again you will have to purchase them. There are a lot of images, like the Disney etc. that don't work with the subscription and you still have to pay for them.

7. The software accepts SVG file without an upgrade.

8. When cutting out an image straight from Cricut, everything is laid out and ready to go.  They even have pre-made projects.You simply purchase the project and cut.  Simple.

8. But... another "dis-like" is trying to design your own shapes or projects is difficult, or at least so far it seams to be, like I said I am kind of a newbie to the software and  still have some learning to do.

My over all review, after just a week? I am glad I got it, I look forward to exploring more about it, but I don't think I will be giving up my Silhouette/Cameo anytime soon.

Just my two cents for now but things can always change as we go along.

Tell me what you think?

PS. Like my cork board above the  desk?  It says:

 Fabric inspires me, Paper makes me happy, Sleep is optional