Have you ever tried Cricut Joy and loved the machine? Or you are a fresher and are confused about what Cricut Joy is and what you can do or what it can do? Whether you are a fresher or an expert or immediate with Cricut, in this blog, we will try to answer all your questions and clear your confusion. Let’s hope that this blog can help you get answers to your question and that you can make a decision.
What is Cricut Joy?
A Cricut Joy is a portable and compact electronic writing and cutting machine. It uses a fine-point blade that can cut over 50 different materials, which include paper, peel-and-stick label paper, iron-on, vinyl, construction paper, and infusible ink transfer sheets. To directly write or draw on your crafts, you can use Cricut Joy pens, and markers, for example, to create personalized invitations, gift tags, and more. You can write or draw directly onto infusible ink blanks like totes and t-shirts, using Cricut Joy Infusible Ink pens and markers.
Cricut Joy comes with all the material you will need to work on your project. In a Cricut Joy box, you will get Cricut Joy, an installed fine-point blade, a fine-point pen, a standard grip mat, smart vinyl, and a sample of deluxe paper.
What is Smart Material?
The maximum width of the material of Cricut Joy is 5.5” or 14 cm, with a maximum length is 20 feet or 6.1 m. The smart material is the crafting materials; you can work with them without a cutting mat. You just need to load the smart material directly into the Cricut machine that supports smart materials.
How Does a Cricut Joy Work?
Cricut Joy is a beginner-friendly; using a Cricut Joy is very simple; all you have to do is plug in the machine, choose your project design using Cricut Design Space, create your design or upload your designs on Cricut Design Space, and then follow the instructions in the app or from the manual. It can cut over 5 materials, including adhesive foil, foil acetate, vinyl, iron-on, cardstock, paper, faux leather, and window cling.
Cricut Joy Project Examples
Here are some examples you can make with Cricut Joy as soon as you open the Cricut Joy box without purchasing any other extra accessories.
- Wall Decor
- Mask Hanger
- Paper flowers (rolled)
- SVG files (room labels)
- Greeting cards
- T-shirts (iron-on t-shirts)
- Coasters (ombre)
- Labels that are writable
- Coasters (infusible inks)
- Stickers
- String art
- Bag
Can You Use Another Cricut Machine Tool With Cricut Joy?
The answer is yes! You can use most of the Cricut tools with Cricut Joy interchangeably. You cannot use tools designed according to a particular machine. Still, you can use some common essential tools, like weeders, scrapers, trimmers, spatulas, brayers, and cutting and writing materials of some of the machines. With the help of the trimmer, you can cut some wider items of other machines to use them with the Cricut Joy.
How is Cricut Joy Different from Other Cricut Machines?
Here is the comparison between Cricut Joy, Cricut Explore Air 2, and Cricut Maker based on specific points.
- Price. The price of Cricut Joy is much more affordable than Explore Air 2 and Maker. It is $70 less than Cricut Explore Air 2 and $220 less than Cricut Maker.
- Size. Cricut Joy is smaller than Explore Air 2 and Maker; Cricut Joy is much lighter than other machines and can easily be carried with one hand.
- Capabilities. However, Cricut Joy can do many things but cannot work as much as Maker and Explore Air 2. Cricut Joy does not score or connect to a printer to print-then-cut, like in Maker and Explore Air 2. And there are other things you can do with Maker and Explore Air 2 but not with Cricut Joy, like debossing, engraving, cutting thicker materials, and cutting fabrics.
- Connectivity. Explore Air 2 and Maker both have Bluetooth and USB cord connectivity options, while Cricut Joy can be connected only via the Design Space app with Bluetooth.
Conclusion
Cricut Joy is a cute compact device, and you can set it up almost everywhere and is much cheaper than other Cricut machines. It is small, but the makers did not compromise its features and capabilities. The machine is an excellent aid for last-minute projects or gifts. It can help you do your work. Cricut Joy can be a perfect item for your craft kit and is a go for a machine.
FAQs
Question- What is the difference between Cricut Joy and Cricut Explore?
Answer- The most significant difference between Cricut Joy and Cricut Explore is that Cricut Joy can work with Smart Materials, which means it can cut the materials without needing mats. The Smart Materials are not as limited as other materials in length; you can cut up to 20 feet of Smart Material. However, the width of Smart Material to work with Cricut Joy is 4 and a half inches and 4.1 inches for matless materials, while the maximum width of Explore can be 11 and a half inches.
Question- What a Cricut Joy cannot do?
Answer- Cricut Joy is one of the Cricut machines that cannot do print and cut work for you, and it cannot cut fabrics or heavy materials, like balsa wood and clipboard. Cricut Joy can cut only some common craft materials, like iron-on, paper, vinyl, card, and sticker paper, although it can work with Smart Material. There are other things that a Joy does not score or connect to a printer to print-then-cut, deboss, and engrave.
Question- Is Cricut Joy worth buying?
Answer- Yes! A Cricut Joy is worth buying. It is compact and cheaper than other Cricut machines and is still capable of many great things. It can do almost everything other Cricut machines do, except printing-then-cutting, cutting fabrics, and heavy material. And if your kids love to craft, Cricut Joy is an incredible machine, as kids usually work on small projects. A Cricut Joy can be a great way to start your crafting and can be a great aid to your crafting collection.
