Cricut help!

minnie2000

minnie2000

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
My husband gave me a Cricut expression for Christmas, and I have been starting to play around with it. The hardest thing I have found is that the backing mat is much too sticky, and my paper rips when I take it off, even if I am really careful. Is there something I should do to the mat to 'de-stick' it a bit? Or do I have to use only cricut paper? I have lots of patterned paper I want to use, but I don't want to spoil it.

I would be grateful for any advice, or youtube tutorials, or helpful webpages etc. I have looked around a bit, but sometimes the best things don't show up with google, and you just have to know where to look.

Also, is there anywhere you can buy the cartridges at a good price, or second hand even? I'd like to buy more, but they are so expensive!
 
Coree

Coree

Well-Known Member
Hi, Minnie!

How cool that you got a Cricut Expressions for Christmas. Let me preface my comments with saying that I have the older Cricut--not the Expressions--but I would think they're pretty similar. You definitely don't need to use just the Cricut paper. I use my own all the time and have never even bought any of their papers. You also don't want to de-stick the mat in any way. The stickiness starts wearing off pretty quickly anyway and once you start losing the stick the paper can move while the cuts are being made and ruin your letters. Sticky is definitely better. Cricut has a tool called a spatula that's a very thin spatula-like tool that you can use to pry the paper off the sticky mat. I've found that to be very useful. Before I got that though I just used a knife to pry it up. Keep working with it and you'll figure it out and love it like the rest of us do.

I'm not sure what kinds of stores you have in the UK, but here in the US Walmart has some decent prices on the cartridges--about $55 rather than the $70 you pay at most craft stores.
 
mouselvrmom

mouselvrmom

Well-Known Member
I do not have the neat little spatula that Coree has, but I have found that if I work really carefully, I can usually get the paper up even without it curling up. I usually try to work on the side that is farthest away from where I started cutting. Does that make sense? I start at that corner and carefully move to where I started cutting. I get the big piece of the paper that is uncut first and then my cut pieces are left. Those are a little trickier. I suppose the spatula would come in handy, but I have good fingernails. So I just work with an edge and carefully peel it away.

Coree is definitely right about the stick wearing off quickly. I am actually in need of some new ones because mine are loosing their stick.

Someone posted on here about a great site that has cartridges cheaper. I think it was on a thread about the princess cartridges. I actually ended up going on there and ordering them from there because they were a lot cheaper than you can usually get at stores. I think they were 59, but they had other cartridges even cheaper. I think it was a hallmark. I'll look and see if I can find the thread.

I found the thread. It was the disney princess cartridge thread. And it was Shari who provided this great link. It is at www.hallmarkscrapbook.com you can click on provocraft cricut cartridges to see all the ones they have. They have many for 54 and a few for 38 which is a great deal.
 
shari71

shari71

New Member
Thought I would chime in about the sticky mat. On the Provo Craft site, they mention that there were a batch of mats that went out with the machines that are ultra sticky. I found this to be true when I got my Expression for Christmas. I sliced my hand open with the spatula trying to get it under the paper and when it finally gave it went to far. I would suggest throwing it out and picking up a new set of mats. I have found Hobby Lobby to have the cheapest so far. Hope this helps.
 

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