Regular contributer Lisa Falduto kicks of this week of guest posts on CraftTestDummies. Lisa sure knows how to get us off on the right- and crafty-foot!
So if you are anything at all like me, you love your Cricut! I can do amazing things with my Cricut like cutting fabric, cutting paper, cutting fun foam, cutting chipboard, cutting vellum, cutting, cutting, cutting….well, you get the idea! While cutting is a blast, did you know there is a product created by a separate company called CRI-kits that you can use to draw with your Cricut?
So just what are CRI-kits? Follow along and I will show you…
You can purchase 4 different CRI-kits:
- Glitter
- Metallic,
- Pastel
- Regular/Neon
Here is what the package says:
All kits come with 10 medium point gel pens (40 colors available)
Magnetic pen hlder/carrier available only in kits labeled: Complete kit with carrier.
Lifetime warranty on Gel Pen Carrier
No tools necessary to remove pens. Pens are held magnetically in carrier for quick and easy changes.
No moving parts, nothing to wear out.
So time to take these CRI-kit gel pens for a test run. First I load the purple glitter pen into the carrier. Very easy and the magnet grabs right on to my pen and pulls it up, holding it securely. Next I load it in to my swing arm holder on my Cricut securing it snugly inside the arm. I choose an image and press cut. Presto! The image is drawn on the paper. I also tried the dark pink color as well.  You can see both images above and both have very nice even and smooth lines.
So here is what I think overall after taking this set for a test run-
Pros
- Lots of colors available
- Magnetic feature is easy and works well
- I like the fact there is glitter, swirl, neon, regular and metallic
- They are sold in kits with or without the carrier
- The carrier seems durable
- Give a nice even image
- If purchasing sets of pens alone the price point is fairly decent
Cons
- The price seems a little steep for the sets that contain the carrier (Kits with carrier MSRP $29.99 USD. The pen-only kits are $9.99 USD.)
Overall I believe this is a fun product to use along with your Cricut. Quite a bit of variety, draws well, and is easy to use! So what will you make with your CRI-kits pens?
- CRI-Kits Product Review - November 15, 2010
- Paper Crafts Reivew: Tada Creative Studios (Something New!) - October 26, 2010
- Craft Product Review: Clearsnap Designer Foils - October 4, 2010
- Smooch by ClearSnap! - September 8, 2010
- Craft Embellishments by Prima: Flowers - September 1, 2010
- Craft Embellishments by Prima: Crystals - August 30, 2010
- Epiphany Crafts Button Studio Review - August 12, 2010
Mandie W says
I’ve been wanting to try these too 🙂 Thanks for the great review! I put them on my Christmas List!
Lisa says
They really are fun Mandie!
Lisa