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Disclosure:  I have an affiliate relationship with Cricut but all the love I have for my Cricut machine is 100% my own.

Easy Beginner’s Cricut Project Idea

Getting start with my new Cricut Explore machine was so exciting.  I opened up the box and followed the start guidelines and had a “Thank You” card printed in about 15 minutes with my Cricut Explore® Machine + Basic Starter Set!

Right when you open the box it gives you a website to start off with.  It will take you step by step through the process of setting up your machine.  It was really easy to set up.  The hard part is when you start to design projects on your own.  The set up process started off by telling me to plug in the machine and sync it with my computer.  Basically, it will print out a sheet of paper that it will read from to align it perfectly.

Once you have that done you are ready for start your first project.  You will get a 14 day trial period to test out all of the amazing projects in the subscription.  I opted to start with a simple Thank You card to create.

I already had tons of card stock in my bin but I choose some odd colors just in case I made a mistake.  I was testing it out.  You never know what you will get on your first try so I didn’t want to use my good paper.

I’ve got to tell you that I love all the extra tools that come with the Cricut machine.  I told my husband that I almost feel as though I am preforming surgery but on paper!  lol  You just don’t even realize how useful these tools are until you begin to use them.  I used every single one of them and it makes crafting so easy!  I almost feel like I am cheating.  I love how the handles are bigger to make it easier to hold and use.

I loaded the sticky mat with card stock before printing my card.  I did get a tip from someone in a group that told me it was best to rub the brand new sticky mat across your shirt before you used it.  I made the mistake of not doing this on another sticky mat I had and I had torn all my paper to shreds trying to pull my project from my sticky mat.  I made sure to do it this time with my new mat and it worked perfectly.

After loading my paper and choosing the type of paper I was using, I hit cut to start my project!  Easy, peasy!

Now for the fun part!  Removing all the pieces that you don’t need on your project.

Voila!  Project complete and in no time at all.  I love that!

Now I just plan to print more with my pretty paper.

I also made a few pinwheels for my next project.  I had 14 days to take advantage of my free trial membership and pinwheels are fun!  I pulled out the vintage paper for these but not in cardstock.  Cardstock would have been to heavy to use.  If you decide to do the pinwheel project that’s available in the subscription be sure to use regular paper that’s double sided.  I made the mistake of printing my first set without using double sided paper and had to reprint them.

I think they came out so cute, don’t you?