What do you spend $8 on? I’ll start:

• Yesterday I spent $8 on an overpriced, underwhelming tuna sandwich from the deli down the street.
• Every time I walk into Target, I spent at least $8 at the Dollar Spot on little metal buckets and bags of animal crackers, the likes of which I do not need in my house or in my belly.
• I bet Andrew $8 that I could name six TLC songs in 35 seconds. I lost that $8…and I’m not happy about it.
• I spent $8 on a tube of lipstick that makes me look like a corpse.
• …and one time, I spent $8 on different flavors of pickles to see which one I liked best. They were all nasty. I don’t like pickles.

Moral of the story is that every month, I spend $8 on nonsense. You probably do too…so it won’t be hard to reallocate that $8 of mad money to something a little more sensible. Something a lot more fun…and something that will give you infinite bragging rights.

Cricut Design Space subscription – also known as Cricut Access –  is a great way to use that $8 and I’m here to give you the nitty gritty of how it works, what it does, what it doesn’t do and why it’s a good way to spend the $8 that’s burning a hole in your pocket.

WHAT IS DESIGN SPACE? 

Imagine if Pinterest had a baby with a magical website that basically does all your crafting for you. That’s Cricut Design Space. Cricut Design Space is the web-based program that let you browse pages and pages of predesigned projects as well as design your own projects on your desktop, laptop, tablet and phone. Cricut Design Space houses over 75,000 images, 400 fonts and more than 800 predesigned Make it Now projects. The Make It Now projects are already done for you and all you have to do it click “Go.”

Cricut Design Space also lets you upload your own jpeg and svg files as well as use your own fonts. It’s a workhorse. Rumor has it the Design Space can also predict the winning lottery numbers for the next ten years. That’s a lie.

WHAT IS A CRICUT ACCESS?

If you were to mosey on over to Cricut Design Space right this second…go ahead…I’ll wait.

Did you mosey?

Now, without a Design Space Subscription, you’ll pay about a buck for each image you use and about $3-7 for each Make It Now project you purchase. It’ll basically function as an “a la carte” service. You’ll pick what you want, and you’ll pay for it. I hate that idea. I hate paying for things.

Cricut Access is the service for all you guys who also hate to pay for things. Cricut Access gives you access to a ton of images, fonts, full cartridges and Make it Now projects at no additional cost. Here’s how it works:

WHAT DO I GET?

Well – it’ll depend on which Cricut Access membership you choose – don’t worry – they’re all great.

MONTHLY:

• Pay $9.99 on a monthly basis and get unlimited access to over 400 fonts and 75,000 images…no need to pay a la carte prices for each font you love
• 10% off all orders on Cricut.com and 10% off licensed images
• Ease of searching for Cricut Access images thanks to the handy dandy little green flag that alerts you to all images, cartridges, fonts and projects that are included in your membership

ANNUAL:

• Exact same goodies as the monthly subscription, buy when you pay for a full year, you save!

PREMIUM:

• Exact same goodies as the monthly and annual subscriptions, with that added bonus of more savings like FREE shipping on orders over $50!

WHAT DON’T I GET?

There are some images, font and projects that won’t be included in your Cricut Access membership, but remember you do get 10% off any Design Space content that you’d have to pay for out of pocket

Cricut Access membership does not allow you to use your 10% discount on renewal of your Cricut Access membership…shucks.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

Now let’s talk dolla dolla bills! There are two options:

• You can pay for the whole year at once for $95.80 which comes to about $7.99 a month OR
• You can pay $9.99 a month for your membership with the option to cancel at any time.

Either way you go, you’ll have unlimited access to a ton of content and more than enough excuses to get crafting. Personally, I like to take the “go for broke” option and pay it all up front. That way, come June I’ve forgotten about that $95.80 and I feel like I just getting everything for free!!!! (Yes, I know that this makes zero financial sense but just roll with me on this).

WHY SHOULD I CARE?

Here’s how I see it: if you own a Cricut Explore Air or Cricut Maker then Cricut Access is really the only way to go. You spent all that money on an awesome machine so you’d better use it. Don’t let it sit in the corner and turn into a decorative shelf accessory. Put that bad boy to work! It will amaze you and within hours you’ll be hooked. With my Cricut Access membership, I come up with every reason under the sun to use my machine. You’ll find images that you never imagined exisited and you’ll have fun using them in creative ways.

Oh – and don’t forget you’ll get 10% off all those supplies from Cricut. com which includes mats, blades, vinyl, Easy Press machines and tools…among lots of other things.

SIGN ME UP!

All that’s left is to head over HERE to join the club.

Have fun with your new membership. Take THAT Target Dollar Spot!

This post was done in partnership with Cricut. All photos and opinions are mine, mine , mine. Thanks for supporting the collaborations that keep the lights on in this joint.