Do you love creating custom scrapbooking layouts or paper crafts? Do you get tired of searching through craft store after craft store, looking for that perfect set of punches? Are you tired of having to store hundreds of punches so that you'll have what you need when you need it?

Look no further; there is a Scrapbooking and stamping product for you! The Cricut (pronounced like cricket) is a personal electronic cutting system manufactured by Provo Craft, a leader and innovator in scrapbook materials and designs.

The Cricut is an independent system, which means you don't need a computer or printer in order to make the Cricut operate. Cricut cartridges are inserted into the Cricut machine so that the user can print out die cuts.

What exactly is a Cricut Cartridge?

A Cricut Cartridge is much like a computer disk or jump drive; it holds and stores die cut information. When you insert a Cricut Cartridge into your Cricut system, you can choose from any of the die cuts saved on that Cricut Cartridge to print out.

Cricut Cartridges come in different themes, such as ?Christmas Cheer?, ?Disney's Mickey and Friends?, ?Calligraphy?, ?Storybook Creations?, and ?50 States Cartridge?.

Once you've chosen the die cut you wish to make from the die cuts on the cartridge, you simply add the paper that you want the die cut formed on and your die cut is made in seconds!

Who can benefit from a Cricut and Cricut Cartridges?

Of course, the Cricut is ideal for any scrapbooker who wants to make her life easier. After all, having access to hundreds of die cuts enables a scrapbooker to make limitless Scrapbooking layouts and die cuts. But who else can use Cricut Cartridges?

Well, anyone who enjoys making paper crafts will find that using the Cricut is a simple way to create custom cards and other paper crafts with hundreds of options.

Embellishing die cuts is a great way to add dimension and quality to handmade cards. Teachers can use Cricut for art projects, bulletin boards, and object lesson tangibles. Anyone who regularly makes crafts, such as retirement home workers, preschools, kids clubs, Sunday school teachers, and home school moms, will find that having a Cricut system enables them to be more creative and cost-effective in their crafts projects.

Because the Cricut is so simple to use, people find that their craft, scrapbook, or card project takes far less time and turns out far better than if they hadn't used the Cricut.

Getting Started with the Cricut and Cricut Cartridges

Once you've made the decision that purchasing a Cricut and Cricut cartridges is the right move for you, you'll want to decide which Cricut cartridges to start with.

You should consider what types of projects you will be completing. That will help you narrow down your choices as you browse the thousands of available Cricut cartridges.

Of course, the great thing about Cricut is that they continue to develop new cartridges all the time, so you never get to the bottom of the list! Shopping for new cartridges is always a fun way to think of new, creative projects you can make!