Hi I have recently purchased a cricut. I am having heaps of trouble trying to get it to cut well. I have used a mix of fondant/gumpaste and am finding that it is either pulling/dragging when cutting. Have even put sheets in freezer to see if it helps, which it does until it thaws or comes back to room temp. I am soo upset & frustrated. Can anyone please tell me what works for them. It would be very much appreciated.
Thanks & Regards
Leanne

I freeze my fondant onto the mat, too. I find it cuts very well that way. I also leave it on the mat about 20 minutes before I try to take it off. When it freezes and comes to room temp it becomes very soft. Sometimes the cuts aren't all the way through and when I try to remove the excess fondant around the image it drags it. I leave the image on the mat to air dry for awhile. As I remove the image from the mat I first remove the excess around the cut image. I keep my exacto knife nearby incase the cut didn't go all the way through all the way around. Sometimes, depending on whether or not the fondant is dry enough to remove the excess, I may leave the cut image on the mat a few minutes longer. I then use a small spatula or scraper to remove the image from the mat and set onto parchment paper to dry.

I've also had luck removing the image while frozen as well if I don't have time to wait for it to dry. After I cut the frozen image I gently remove the excess from around the image. If I need to help the cuts with my exacto knife I cut around the image. I then put the mat back into the freezer to firm up before I try to remove it. Once it's very frozen I find it easy to remove. I also use quite a bit of shortening on the mat. No enough shortening to see the white of it, but enough to be able to slide the image off the mat easily.

I've also read others who have left their fondant/gumpaste on the mat to dry a few hours before cutting it. I've never tried that but it may help.
Don't forget to adjust your speed and pressure and make sure your fondant is rolled thinner than what you would use on a cake. I make mine about 1/8 of an inch or less at times depending on what I'm cutting.

HTH!!!

Make sure you're greasing your cutting mat well and rolling out your fondant VERY thin. Also make sure your speed & pressure aren't on high - that's given me problems before. HTH

I actually made a post about what worked for me here...

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-725002.html

HTH!

This may help you, there is a lot of information and a lot of reading, but it is worth it!

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-678490-success.html+circut

Those are some great links! I'm hoping to learn something from them!

I am another frustrated cricut user... even though I love it... I hate it. I am no expert, but I find that if I use fondant rolled thin and let it sit covered in plastic for 1-2 days and then run it through the machine it works great... I tried the freezer method, not pretty. I hope this helps therese

I make sure I have a good coating of shortening on mat. the coating will be clear, not white.
Roll fondant on mat. make sure it's a thin coating. I keep rolling and cutting off the excess until I have an even thin covering of fondant. 1/8 inch (satin Ice)
then I take my fondant smoothers and rub the top to create a shine. Let fondant sit a few minutes.
then cut at medium speed and medium pressure-works for me.
make sure your blade is cleaned from old cuts. hardened fondant hampers new cuts.
weed off excess fondant from mat. everything except the design.
let sit up to 2 hours before removing from mat. a thin knife/spatula works great. humidity will determine how long to leave it. try one corner at a time.
I tried the freezer method, and with great humidity this summer, it was an awful mess. had to change wedding cake design because of trouble!
keep trying as I think there are great possibilities with the cricut!!

Check out the live demo Linda did on cakes we bake website.

Thankyou to all of you for your help and suggestions. I will definately give them a try and see what works best for me. I also watched Linda McClure from desert designs on you tube and she also has great videos to watch. Even a recipe to make and lots of tips of how to get the perfect cut from the cricut. Worth a look.
Thanks again,
Leanne (Australia)

OK...I just got a great deal on a Cricut Cake and always thought I wanted one BUT....I've read here that some people realy like the silhouette better. Im confused, You need an edible image printer to use the Silhouette right?? I know this is so dumb but does anyone use the CRICUT now that you can't use 3rd party software?

You don't have to have an edible image printer to use the silhouette, only for the print and cut feature.

Honestly, I love - LOVE - my Cricut, and use it all the time - but after watching Linda McClure's seminar on the Silhouette - I am wishing I had that one instead. I think with the edible printer, you can do soooooooooooo much more!