Quest for A Cricut!

About two weeks ago, my mom told me to check out one of the circulars on the stack of newspapers in the kitchen.  Since I was there, I pulled out the Michaels circular.  Well, that turned out to be a somewhat bad idea (bad as in financially bad) because I ended up seeing that they were having the Cricut on sale for $80!  It's a huge drop in price, and I suddenly decided that it was the perfect opportunity to buy one!

In the past, I've looked at the Cricut many times, but I couldn't justify the cost.  I've been a stamper and greeting card maker since I was a kid (maybe 7?), and I've built up quite a collection of those materials.  That's why I figured it wasn't worth getting a Cricut.  And the thing is, it's not just the machine that costs an arm and a leg.  The cartridges themselves cost your other arm and leg!  They range from $80-90, and I used to wonder why people would give up so much of their money for just ONE cartridge when there were so many from which to choose.  Well, apparently I'm now willing to spend on the machine and the cartridges that frequently go on sale.  It'll be difficult making the actual crafts without my arms and legs though ...

On that Saturday, I headed to Michaels with Howard.  We looked at the Cricut machines that were there.  The original Cricut wasn't actually at the store.  I don't know if they were sold out or what, but Howard asked why I was specifically looking at that one.  It was the cheapest one, of course, so that's why I could understand spending that much money.  Well, the Cricut Create (next size) and the Cricut Expression (the largest size) were there.  Standing in the aisle and discussing the options was interesting!  Howard really has so much patience with me; he could have easily told me not to spend that much in the first place, haha.  Well, the final decision was that I'd buy the Cricut Expression.  Wait, what?  Being willing to spend $80 to all of a sudden being willing to spend $250???  Haha, how did that happen?

Something was keeping me from making the purchase that day though.  I didn't do enough research, and I was afraid that there'd be better prices on HSN (Home Shopping Network) since I watched those infomercials in the morning.  We left empty-handed.

Back at home, I started searching on HSN and was happy I waited.  There were bundles that had cuter cartridges and more tools to use while Cricut-ing.  But again, I wasn't ready to just order it.

At night when I was by myself, I started doing more Cricut research.  I was reading reviews and someone had made a comment that said that she got her Cricut by using Amazon gift cards that she got from her credit card reward points!  What a great idea!  I check out Thank You Rewards, but there were no Amazon ones.  However, there was an option for Walmart gift cards!  I was super excited because the Walmart Expressions were $175 with 2 cartridges that are better than all the other sets and the option to add on the tools for much less than buying them on their own.  I just had to ask a question on the Cricut messageboard about whether or not the quality of the machine is as good as the regular machines.  I got confirmation that they were exactly the same; they're just in COLOR!  Yes!!!  No boring white machine for this girl; I have a choice between canary, plum, aqua, and green!

Okay, so it was set.  I knew I was going to get an Expression from Walmart using gift cards from my credit card points.  However, after a bit more research, I discovered that I could only use 4 gift cards on one order!  Oh no!  That would be 4 cards at $25 each, which would mean I'd have to pay $75 of my own money.  It's not that it was that much, but since I had the points, I just saw it as a waste.  Well, I found out that there's a Your Wish Fulfilled option for TY Rewards, so I sent in a message and asked if I could have gift cards in a $50 or $100 denomination instead since I think in the past, they always had $25, $50, and $100 as your choice.  I got a response a day later, and they said it was a-okay because those cards could come in any denomination.  Well, since I knew they came in any denomination, I asked if I could just get a $200 card or 2 of the $100, and pretty soon, I had a reply that that was a-okay as well!  I replied to that email and requested that they send that $200 gift card to me!  Woohoo!

Right now, I'm impatiently waiting for the gift card to arrive (it takes 7-10 days) so that I can order.  I was hoping to get the card and order the machine this week so that I could pick it up at the Walmart store in NJ with free site-to-store shipping.  That doesn't mean that I can't start stocking up on cartridges though!

Two or three weeks ago when Michaels was having a sale for $20 cartridges, I hopped on by and found only one that I liked: (1) Locker Talk.  I was really excited that I at least got one of them and that it was school-related!  I feel I can use my being a teacher as a reason to have it since I could use it for school things.  Then for Christmas, my mom bought me another cartridge that she was able to find at Michaels for $20: (2) Paisley.  Is it funny that I already have 2 cartridges in my possession when I don't yet even have the actual Cricut?

If you think that's funny, you probably shouldn't read this next part as I say I just placed an order with Crafts Direct for a few more cartridges because they were having a $20 sale!  Yup, that site and another site, Hallmark Scrapbooking (I'll be ordering from them after I get a response regarding shipping) have cartridges that I REALLY want for only $20!  I can't believe something that's originally $90 could be that much less just because I was able to find these sites thanks to Robyn on mypinkstamper.com.  Anyway, I ordered the cartridge that will probably be my all-time favorite, which is (3) Create a Critter.  Take a look at this picture, and you'll see why!  Absolutely adorable!

Of course, I couldn't just get that because it wouldn't make sense for the cost of shipping, hehe.  I also got (4) From My Kitchen and (5) Sweethearts.  Anddd since I was ordering anyway, I got some adhesives that I'll need to make these Cricut projects.  The one thing I'm really excited about is the Scotch Pink Advanced Tape Glider with Tape (ATG gun), which was pretty much half off.  Robyn/The Pink Stamper uses that as do many other scrapbookers and card makers.  I trust their opinion and don't want to spend money on other adhesives that might not work or might jam.

So there you have it.  I'm a girl who has 2 Cricut cartridges at home and 3 Cricut cartridges on their way to my house when I don't even own a Cricut ... YET!