I have them both. I like my pasta maker best, But I will use either of them. The KA is up off the table and hard to control the dough. You must work with small pieces. You can roll out longer pieces of dough with the pasta maker. I love my motorized one. It leaves both hands free to work with the dough. One to quide it and one to keep it straight.

I think I've read everything (whew!) and I really appreciate all the info, but I'm going to ask:

Which cricut machine do you prefer and why? I really didn't want to spend as much as the expression, but it seems you can get wider cuts? Is that right? How necessary is that? Not to sound simple but I'm just waffling so bad on which one to buy and need some opinions here!

Is there a real downside to buying one of the smaller ones, like the create? Since most cakes are 4 in tall (or thereabouts), do I need the expression, or would a smaller one work? I'm hoping this isn't all about personal preference, 'cuz I don't know which one I want!

ANY opinions would be greatly appreciated. I want to buy one!!! Anxious to get started.

I got the expression because I usually prefer to get more and not need it than to get less and find out I do need or want more after all.

If you're going to do cut outs for the sides the small one should be plenty. But if you wanted to do a cut out to cover the entire top of a cake, you would probably need the E. Now I haven't actually tried it out myself - I've been reading everything to figure out how to do it and plan to try this weekend, so its just my opinion on the size of machine.

kake4umjp - thanks for the info. which electronic pasta roller do you use? there are so many?!

anyone else who uses the makins clay roller - whats the trick? I tried it and my gp just stuck to it like mad while I was trying to roll it thru.

re: clay roller, I put a bunch of PS in the middle of a Jcloth and tie it up. Then I "pouff" EVERYTHING (roller, gp, counter, first born...) and it seems to work fine. Just "pouff" after every other pass with the gp.

I had the Makins clay roller and hated it. HATED IT! I trashed it and bought the KA pasta roller, and couldn't be happier! The Makins one wouldn't go thin enough for me, and my fondant stuck to it something awful. I really like how the KA one is up off of the cabinet, and gives you room to work.

I too got the Expression so that I could make cuts in 1 piece to fit the top of a cake, if I so desired. I'd rather have the bigger one and only need it once in a while, than have a smaller one and wish I could make bigger cuts. But...that's just a personal preference.

Provocraft just is coming out with acricut just for cakes..
check this out.
http://www.cricut.com/shopping/ProductDetails.aspx?id=906&s=1&sc=2

Oh my goodness! I had no idea you could use the Cricut for this! I have the expression sitting in the closet. That's where it has been for over a year. Its still in the box...never opened. ugh!
I had great ideas of scrapbooking but it never happened.

Now, I am wondering if I should sell this one and get the one for cakes? Has anyone had a chance to work with the new one for cakes?

wow...I am so thrilled that I might be able to actually make something for the cakes with that machine!
Thanks for starting this thread even though it was a long time ago

I think just the price... just shows you they are listening and thought great another way to
to make more money..
Do like the idea of no rollers in middle and the blade being inclosed and a overlay that covers all buttons from what I see in pic

Ok. Well, I've just finally read through the entire 28 pages. And now I'm kicking myself for not reading and keeping up sooner!!! I have had so many "delays" in getting started, and then yesterday I finally took the plunge and started getting the gummy off my mat. Well, I wish that I had actually read ALL the posts before I started, so 2 ruined mats later I finally read more and now I have 2 good mats to work with (thank you to all for that!!!). Then I just about cried when I ran my Wilton GP through the machine and it was all raggeddy. I just about gave up, but then sat down and read a few MORE pages of posts, and learned to set the timer to let my fondant SIT for 10 minutes!!!! UGH!!!! So I finally read all of the posts, and I had been having SOOOOOO many problems with SCAL that I was ready to just say "fuggedabudit"and get MTC (despite being out the money!), and I tried ONE LAST THING... And it worked!!!!!

I love all of you so much! If I weren't married I would propose to each and every one of you!!!!! Have a great day!!!!!

Oh, and a couple of things I forgot to add...

1 - I cut my rubbers off, and still use paper, and it's NOT a problem at all. Okay, that doesn't sound right, but you know what I mean!

2 - My first set of LM's DVD the second disk wouldn't read at all. I got mine through GSA. I contacted them, and they contacted her, and within a week I had a brand new DVD, and GSA was SO appologetic it was insane!!!! What a great company to work with!!!!

3 - What I would truly like to see is if LM would teach some "trainer" classes, and, like Wilton, individuals could get certified in the LM Cricut Method for Cakes and teach classes!!!! I'd pay to do that!

OHH!!!! I have a good question... Does it matter HOW you put the blade in the housing? And where should the arrow be facing that is on the housing?
Dumb, I know, but I've lost my information book (I've been cleaning, a.k.a. throwing out stuff!).
Thanks guys!

I just looked and my book says that arrow needs to be facing you.
HTH

i took my housing out and popped it back in a couple of times and it works at any position.

cricut does have a learning curve and can be frustrating. glad you are enjoying it now !

Ok, so......I've read the first 5ish pages and the last 5ish pages and I am now confused. Does any of the Cricuts support using your own images from your computer or you can only use the images on the cartridges?

Oh... blessedist... you HAVE to read the whole thing!!!! there is SOOOOO much information here! I actually have to go back and re-read it! There are some web-sites posted for getting good graphics, there are at least 2 non-provocraft systems you can down-load for using on your computer with your cricut, and about a gazillion tips and helpful information! Seriously, it's worth the read!

It doesn't matter if the arrow is facing you or not. The instruction booklet just recommends it face you so you can adjust the blade depth during projects.

That's excellent! Is she pushing the DVD too? What does she call the class?? How does LM feel about it, since she "created" the method?

OK, I found the information. Still, did she get the idea from LM? Or did she develop her own technique?

Since I didn't think of it myself, I would personally not want to take the credit.

And please don't read anything into what I'm writing I am just saying that I would love to teach LM''s method, using her DVD as a basis, and running through it as a class.

I was on the Cricut website and they show a cake Cricut it must be
something new there coming out with.

OK, so I happened accidentally on a Cricot tutorial on youtube while I was looking for something else yesterday... I got so engrossed in it and others that I can't even remember what I was originally doing!

I came back here and read through this entire thread and then went ahead and got SCAL. I spent most of the night searching for and gathering hundreds of svg files from the web... I'm soooo excited!

Walmart online had the Cricut Expression bundle for $274, It's the cheapest price I've found... AND I won 2 Amex giftcards at work last week totalling $150... it must be a sign to go forth and buy it don'tya think!

Is there a better deal on the mahine out there that I don't know about? I bought the deepcut blade/housing from eBay for $15... got everything so far except the machine!
WooHoo!

I too have been engulfed in the whole Cricut idea

As far as the deep cut blade goes I am going to try and get that today. There were a couple I had bid on last night but lost both. Wonder if we were bidding against each other? ahahaha

Anyway, it looks like Walmart has it for $18 so I might try there or check HL and Michaels pricing too.

The SCL sound so wonderful!!!

Can't wait to see what you make!

OK, I took the plunge and loaded up last night!
I got the blue Cricut Expression bundle for $229 (free shipping)
The Deep Cut blade w/housing for $14.99 ($1.00 shipping)
2 extra 12x12 mats for $15.84 (free shipping)

All from eBay using 'Buy it Now' with no bidding, plus I earned $5.24 in eBay bucks!

WoooHoo! I can't wait!

Way to go chilz822! I just got back from Hobby Lobby where I bought my deep blade and am about to drag out everything I will need to experiment.

Walmart had the blade housing for $18 something online only...said it wasn't available in stores. So...I printed that out and took it to HL and they matched the price. Their price was $29.99 so I wasn't sure they would match..whew! I am so glad they did.

Have a great day.

I bought my deep blade for $7.00 on Amazon.com, try that. I found after lots of trial and error that the Wilton fondant with a little tylose and a lot of crisco in it works great. I also found that trial and error worked better than any video. I rolled my fondant real thin put it on my pad and rubbed by hands with cristo and smoothed the fondant with my hands and ran my fondant thru the cricut immediately. I was trying to do it Like the video for weeks, gave up and read this ALL THE POSTS here and learned more...Thanks everyone.... I will try to post my cakes. I am not sure how to do it.

I bought my deep blade for $7.00 on Amazon.com.

Did that price include the housing or just the blade? Just curious for future blade purchases. I had to buy the housing and blade today.
Thanks