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The Cricut Joy explains: What is the Cricut Joy?
Joy is the newest Cricut cutting machine, announced in February 2020. It’s the smallest of them all, just over 8″ wide and weighing only 1.75 kg (3.85 lbs). This makes it really portable – perfect for quick makes around the home. Its tiny size means it can easily be tucked away on a shelf or in a cupboard between uses.
The whole reason behind the Cricut Joy is ease of use. It has a simplified interface and tool port, and is operated completely from the Design Space app (no buttons on the machine itself). This takes away several steps in the making process, making it that little bit quicker and simpler to use. However, it can still cut to the same incredible level of accuracy as all other Cricut machines.
It can also cut much longer designs than the other Cricut models: up to 4 foot continuous designs, or up to 20 foot repeated designs. Perfect for simple banners, party decorations and wall decals.
However, just note that because it’s smaller than the others, it has a maximum cutting width of 4.25″. (The others can cut up to 11.5″ in width).
Which materials can the Joy cut?Joy can only cut the most common craft materials – paper, card, iron-on, vinyl and sticker paper. It’s also the only machine that can cut without a mat, thanks to the new Smart Vinyl and Smart Iron On technology (another feature that makes it quicker and simpler to use).
Joy also has the additional option of the Card Mat. This allows you to slot a folded card blank into the mat, before cutting it out. (Other machines have to cut the card flat, not folded, which takes a little longer to set up and align correctly).
It cannot cut heavy materials like chipboard and balsa wood, nor can it cut any fabric.
Joy is also the only one of the three machines that cannot do “print and cut”, a process where you print an image, then the Cricut scans it and cuts out very specific sections.
Who is the Joy for?
Unlike the others, Joy not aimed specifically at crafters. It’s more suited to everyday family use – whether that’s last minute birthday cards, or making custom storage labels for the kitchen or office.