I have a habit of collecting hobbies like other people collect football cards. I have drawers full of wool from the crochet era, a box of essential oils and unidentified bags of white powder from a brief flirtation with bath bombs, alongside untouched candle-making and soap-making kits.
A few years ago – before Covid – I got it into my head that paper craft sounded like a great idea. I went through a stage of die-cutting machines that were too rigid in terms of what you can make, and the dies were a pain to store.
Then crafting company Cricut launched the Joy, just as Covid hit. Its digital machines can cut a range of materials, including paper, card and vinyl, and the software means you can design on your laptop and the machine will cut for you. No storage, apart from the machine and whatever the materials you need.
If you are beginner, the Cricut Joy has always been the ideal entry point to test the water. The smallest of the company’s digital cutters, the machine is ideal for making small projects such as stickers, decals and greetings cards. Connecting to your smartphone or laptop over Bluetooth, it is the ultimate portable crafting machine.
But the lack of some features found on Cricut’s larger machines meant that the original Joy was limited. You couldn’t use “print then cut” on the machine, which allows you to create a design in the accompanying DesignSpace software, print it on your home printer and then cut it using the Cricut machine.
If you are thinking “that’s what scissors are for”, you have a point, but the print and cut was designed for more complex cuts that your scissors may not be able to keep up with. Plus it also works for creating stickers and personalised vinyl decals (“live, laugh, love”, anyone?). And you can leave the machine to work while you are busy elsewhere.
While Cricut has added new machines – the Joy Xtra in 2023 is a larger format with extra functions – the Joy hasn’t changed since its launch.
That has now changed with the Joy 2, which is smaller, easier to use and adds those crucial missing features – the print then cut sensor and scoring, with a dedicated scoring tool just for the Joy 2.
The former means you can make stickers on the machine, print them on special sticker paper and cut them out with the lower-priced Joy 2, rather than having to spend money on the more expensive machines that will lie idle.
That makes the Joy 2 even more useful for beginners, and a good backup machine for experienced crafters.
Cricut has also made it simpler to load materials into the machine and get cutting, with an autoload function for the cutting mats or Cricut’s smart materials (that don’t require extra mats). You need to make sure everything is correctly aligned though, or you will end up wrestling the mat back out of the Joy 2.
The cutting process was quick, clean and effortless, however, which is what you want when you are a beginner. And although Design Space can be a bit of a learning curve, recent updates have made it easier for beginners to get to grips with, with templates that guide you through the creation process regardless of what it is you want to make.
One thing to note: although some projects in Design Space are free to use, others will require Cricut Access membership, which adds to the overall cost. You don’t need to pay it if you are confident in designing and uploading your own projects, but beginners may find the subscription a handy way to get started on T-shirt designs and water bottle labels.
As for my own Cricut activity, the hobby has stuck. In more ways than one.
Good
The new Joy is smaller and easier to transport than the original. That makes it a better choice for smaller projects and events. It is lighter too, by about 30 per cent compared with the original Joy, and it works out cheaper than the original too.
It is also more efficient, with Cricut simplifying the steps to load materials into the machine and get cutting.
The best change, though, is the decision to add print and cut to the machine, along with scoring. These were two of the features I used most on the larger machines; having them in the smaller Joy 2 makes it more likely that I will choose that machine when the size of the project dictates.
Bad
Speaking of size, the Joy 2 is still the smallest of the Cricut machines, so that does limit what you can do with it. Labels, small cards, cardstock projects and vinyl decals are all possible, but you might test the boundaries of the product.
The Joy 2 also uses a new blade housing that requires you to replace the entire thing when you need a new blade. Unlike the original Joy – and every other Cricut machine – you can’t just replace the blade when it eventually dulls. That seems wasteful.
However, the original Joy’s housing and blades will work in the Joy 2, so you can buy one of those and swap out the blades as needed.
Everything else
The new Joy 2 is currently sold with an “essentials” bundle, which includes everything you need to get started and then some. It has essential tools for working with vinyl – weeding tools for removing the unnecessary bits, spatulas and scrapers for lifting your materials off the mat, a special card mat for making personalised greeting cards, a paper trimmer, Joy 2 scoring tool and enough materials to cover several initial projects.
Verdict
An excellent update to the Joy 2 makes this the ideal entry point for would-be crafters.
