I guess one of the main disadvantages of the orginal Cricut Personal Cutter, was that you could only put in a half 12x12inch sheet of paper to do the die cuts and this was a real drag having to always have half sheets of paper around. So the makers of Cricut decided to upscale and make a larger version where you can now do die cuts with 12x12 and 12x24 inch sheets.

However the machine is so much larger, it is certainly not easily portable and is meant to be kept in a permanent place in the home, or as they are now targeting... the school place!

The Cricut Expression Machine has all the same great features of the original Cricut like no computer required, lots of cartridges available (same catridges are used across the whole Cricut range) and the ability to cut shapes in varying sizes automatically without having to babysit the machine too much.

Given that the Expression has the same basic design and functionality as the original, it also has its annoying sticky mat. However after having reviewed some of the other die cutting machines, like the Making Memories SLICE, I see that this is a slight advantage, as the Making Memories SLICE has to be babysit while cutting, as it doesn't have this sticky sheet. Hopefully one day they will come up with a better way to be able to cut sheets without holding the paper and without having to use the sticky mat, because it is a real pain, especially if you want to cut shapes from delicate paper.

The Cricut Expression is also the most expensive machine currently on the market at around US$500.00 RRP, however just looking around on the internet, you can easily buy it from various places for US$300 plus shipping.

So if you are a die hard scrapper with money to burn!!! or you have just been frugle with your scrapbooking so you could save up for the Expression (well done!) then it is truely one of the best on the market at the moment.

I was introduced to the Cricut Personal Cutting Machine abut 2 years ago now at a scrapbooking workshop. Wow, imagine the love I have for the Sizzix, but now I can set the machine to cut out shapes while I keep scrapbooking. It is a dream come true.

I waited a while though before buying a Cricut, as I had to convince myself it was worth it. I went back to a number of workshops and was eventually won over by its versatility. With just one catridge, I can create the same font in different sizes. This was always the disadvantage of the fixed sized Sizzix dies.

However, the Cricut also has a disadvanted in that it can only cut thin cardstock, where as the Sizzix can cut through thicker pieces of fabric like denim, thick cardstock, multiple pieces of paper and lots of other textured material.

So in my house, I am afraid to say, that I have both as both do things the other doesn't.

Provocraft have since introduced two more Cricut cutting machines, the Cricut Create and the Cricut Expression, which I will discuss in another post.

They also have a wide range of cartridges available in many font styles, branded character sets like Sesame Street, shapes and the usual set of themed cartridges for every possible scrapbooking page like baby, christmas, beach, camping. You name it, they have it!