What do I need to get started?

The worse thing is to open you Cricut Machine, get it set up and out of the box and you don’t have what you need to make what you want.

Most machines some with a starter pack including some materials such as vinyl, iron on (HTV) and if you are lucky a mat and mini weeder. This means you can get make some quick and easy projects, straight out of the box. But what do you need when you are in the full swing of crafting?

Now you know me, I am all about paper crafts so that is what I will be focusing on of course!

Some essentials are:

• Cardstock/Paper- Goes without saying if you want to focus on paper crafts. Try different textures, colours and weights.

• BRAYER- I shout this as its an absolute game changer for paper crafting and helps you material to stick to the mat.

• Weeder- this helps you to weed vinyl, but also poke out little bits of card after cutting or push foam pads in.

• Scraper- I used to have a mini scraper but once I got the large one I never looked back. Helps you to clear off cuts from your mat to keep it clean and sticky as also the apply vinyl.

• Spatula- Great for removing images from the mat.

• Non stick scissors- Essentials for cutting foam stickers, without them sticking to one another.

• Scoring Stylus/Wheel- If you have an Explore or Maker range machine, this tool is great for creating score lines and for making things like palm leaves and 3D letters/numbers.

• Glues- a must for paper crafting. I use two types of glue, a white one with a fine point tip for small details and a silicones glue for applying card to acetate.

• Foam Pads/Stickers- LAYERS are key with paper crafting even if just a few using foamies will elevate your projects. Try to get different sizes.

• Mats- Cricut Mats are disposable and after sometime will loss their stick. Having spare mats at all times will stop those crafty mishaps, as sticky mats are essential to ensure projects run smoothly.

• Sticks (for cake toppers)- you do not need pricey acrylic sticks, you can use wooden skewers, straws or lolly pop sticks.

Some non-essentials but good to have:

• Pick me up pen- great for picking up some pieces of cards and gems.

• Paper trimmer- these are great especially for keeping scraps, also comes with a scoring attachment.

Remember you do not need to get EVERYTHING at once, you can build up your crafting supplies over time.

Again a little plug to check out my Amazon Store Front and shop using my Cricut.com website.