Cricut Totes Review - Okieladybug Style!

**For those expecting the making your own envelope glue post today I apologize and it will post tomorrow**

I was contacted by the Provocraft man a few weeks ago about reviewing their set of Cricut Totes and I agreed and told them "ya know I am going to put my machine in that tote and throw it off my porch don't you?" At the time I wondered if he took me seriously or not but I know when I posted on Facebook that I was going to toss it off my porch that folks there believed me and some folks thought I was crazy. One lady even asked "Why would you do that?" and I immediately knew she doesn't know me and how I like to review products. For those of you who don't really know me just know that when I do a review I am willing to make sacrifices if needed because if I am going to say I approve or recommend a product I am going to mean it. 

There are a lot of reviews out there that show how nicely made the Cricut Totes are, how roomy, how stylish, yadda, yadda, yadda but I am not that reviewer. They are actually stylish and roomy though but, I'm the reviewer that is going to really put crap to the test and for this review it meant putting my machine in the tote and seeing how well it would fair under extreme circumstances. 

There were 3 main reasons I wanted to toss the tote containing my Cricut Explore Air2 off the porch.

1. Because I wanted a true test of the durability of the tote  

2. No one else that I know of has done this type of test with the tote

and finally...

3. Nail Provocraft for a crappy product and inferior craftsmanship

I apologize for having 3 segements for the video, I honestly tried for like 4 hours on how to get them all together and I finally did using the YouTube program but then they wanted me to buy the program because it was over 5 minutes long *insert angry emoji here*. Windows 10 has really messed me up on being able to edit videos because I use to have a program that was fairly simple for me to use but alas, I can't use it anymore.

Now on to the review!

Cricut Tote Review - Part 1

In this segment you see me throwing the Cricut Explore Air2 off my porch and then tossing it in my yard a few times and if it survived.

Cricut Tote Review - Part 2

This segment shows me unpacking the machine after I got it back in the house.

Cricut Tote Review - Part 3

The final segment shows if the machine was able to operate after the rough handling I gave it.

Now you might be concerned about my dial that broke off during the experiment but never fear I was able to find the collar pieces, one in the yard and the other in the tote, and using some Loctite Super Glue Gel I glued the color pieces together and then to the dial. Once I let it set I then was able to pop the dial back on the machine and it works perfectly. 

 

Overall I would say the Cricut Tote line is a far more superior product than I expected. I honestly thought my machine would bust apart during the whole process. Now I know that if and when I do take my machine on an airplane I just need to tape a few things down before packing it in the tote. I would also suggest that you use some type of strap to keep the tote securely shut. I have no worries about it being tossed in the trunk of my car for trips.

I will give the Cricut Tote line a thumbs up on durability, craftsmanship and style. I have agreed to do a giveaway since I believe in the product *okie doesn't do giveaways of products she doesn't believe in or recommend*. In order to be eligible answer the 4 following questions and email to Okieladybug Giveaway and title your email Cricut Tote Giveaway. DO NOT COMMENT WITH THE ANSWERS HERE. ANY COMMENTS CONTAINING THE ANSWERS WILL BE DELETED.

1. In segment 1 of the review what kind of hole did the tote hit?

2. In segment 2 of the review what did I say might clean up the tote?

3. In segment 3 of the review what did I use to change material settings for cutting?

4. How would you use the Cricut Tote?

Entry deadline is Wednesday, May 24th 2017 at midnight Central time. All directions must be followed or entry will be deleted. Multiple entries will be deleted. Winner will be notified by a post on this website on or before Saturday, May 27th 2017. Prize will be shipped directly from Provocraft, they will determine the date of shipping after receiving winner information.

Cricut Explore Air2 Review - Haunted Mansion Project

I was sent the Explore Air2 to review and I did a pretty complicated project for my first project with the machine and instead of writing a bunch of stuff and taking a ton of pictures I did a video instead. Actually my friend Carmen suggested a video as it would be easier for people to see the detail. I hate video's because I hate my voice and I am not very good at making the dang things but here it is!!

Here is a picture of the house in case you don't want to watch the video. The house is the Haunted Mansion from the Happy Hauntings cartridge and I did have to do some editing *okie thinks saying "some" is the understatement of the year* to the images to get the patterned paper to cut like I wanted so I could apply it to the house it's self.

I am really pleased with how well the Explore Air2 cut all the images and I had some pretty tough ones in there after I got done with my edits of the house. I really liked the ability to speed up the cuts on the regular cardstock. The machine settings won't let you speed up cuts for things that would likely tear up if it did, such as the chipboard setting. One thing I did find annoying was that the Air2 is quite a bit louder than the other Explore machines I reviewed but it is still more quiet than the other Cricuts, Pazzles or the Cameo's I have heard cutting. I think the quietness of the original Explore just has me spoiled 

The house is open at the bottom so you can add lighting if you wish. In the video I used battery operated tea lights and they work okay but for maximized lighting I think I would find something with a few more lumens so the windows really light up. 

I am super glad I chose this as my first project as Graphic45 was having contests all last week on their Facebook page and my little Haunted Mansion won the really nice prize package in the picture to the left!

This was just a win win situation for me!