Gypsy by Provocraft / Cricut

Gypsy, Gypsy, Gypsy! I’ve been hearing this name for months, and I have purposely ignored it. Like a 2nd grader with my fingers plugging my ears while I sang, “La la la! I. can. not. hear. yooooooo!” All I knew was that it was some kind of handheld gadget that interacts with your CRICUT machine. I “only” have a first-generation BABY BUG…

So I figured this Gypsy thang didn’t even apply to me, that it was for the fancy dancy EXPRESSION.

And I figured if the Gypsy DID apply to the Baby Bug, I would still ignore it til it went away.

Do not. Need. More scrapbooking gadgets.

I tell ya’, it was hard to resist researching the Gypsy; I like to talk about new products here so we can all be edu-muh-cated together. I successfully avoided knowing what a Gypsy really was for a long time … until tonight.

As always, I recorded HSN SCRAPBOOKING and it happened to still be on when I turned on the TV tonight. JINGER ADAMS from ProvoCraft was presenting…

They had me at “hello.”

So let me tell you what I learned by watching the Gypsy demo on HSN tonight:

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It’s a little handheld thing that you can carry in your purse, and “design on the go” … sitting at the doctor’s office, whatever. You save your designs, then cut them when you get home.

Yeah, it’s expensive … freakin’ $300 even on HSN. The price during the “World Launch” is $299.95 and the regular HSN price will be $349.95. But you get a bundle that’s worth $483.96, with a sleeve, carrying case, stylus, AC adapter, car charger, cartridge connect card, 2 cartridges pre-loaded (Gypsy Font and Gypsy Wanderings), and a Don Juan cartridge. And they have free shipping tonight. And 5 flex pays of only $60. They couldn’t make it more tempting if they tried.

HSN hostess SUZANNNE RUNYON pointed out that “craft stores” (we know she means Michaels) will sell the Gypsy for $299, with no extras, and you CANNOT use the coupon. Just so ya know…

On the screen, you can view and layout a mat that is 6×12″, 12×12″ or 12×24″, just like the mats for the different Cricuts. Yep, I can use it with my Baby Bug, after all. Curses!

ALL available Cricut cartridges can be viewed on Gypsy, but you can only cut from the ones you actually own. It’s a great way to preview what’s on each of the cartridges to see if you like them and would use them.

You can update your Gypsy via your computer, so the cartridges and features will always be up-to-date.

The sizes you can cut things are not restricted by the 1/4 inch like on the Cricut…you can get them down the decimal. For instance, Jinger designed something that was 2.14 inches or something.

There is a Search function. Jinger did a search on “flowers” and it pulled up every flower from every Cricut cartridge ever made.

——– You can weld words. ———–

You can drag and drop your design all around the “mat” so it cuts where you want it to.
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Then I started searching around online and found some more 4-1-1, like this:

You can buy Gypsy accessories beyond what comes in the HSN bundle:

Silicon Skins in many designs
Screen protectors
Colored styluses
Colored lanyards

So, yeah, now of course, I want a Gypsy.

Crap.

My last concern, my last saving grace, was the fact that Cricut has not been overly Mac-friendly (i.e., Design Studio is PC-only), and I have a Mac so I’m safe, right? The Gypsy prolly doesn’t work for us Mac Girlz {fingers crossed, oh please please please please…). So I went to the Gypsy FAQ PAGE and here is what I found:
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How is the Gypsy™ updated/upgraded?
The Gypsy™ is updated by connecting it to a PC or a MAC with an Internet connection.

Does the Gypsy™ work with Macintosh computers?
Yes, the Gypsy will be compatible with MAC OS10.
——-

Well, there goes that!

Okay, one last ditch effort to NOT want a Gypsy, although I admit it’s weaker than Denny’s coffee: The Gypsy fonts probably suck so THAT will be the reason I can say no this gadget. I found the images for GYPSY FONT and GYPSY WANDERINGS. And I saw them on the display boards during the HSN demo, where they’re all cut out with colored cardstock and you can see them much better. Guess what? Yeah, LOVED them! And the DON JUAN font, too, which you can normally only get when you buy a Cricut CREATE. They’re all very versatile with cool images that I would definitely use.

I couldn’t copy a Don Juan sample here, so click THIS to see one, please.

HERE is the link to all the Gypsy information by Cricut. HERE are a bunch of demo videos. You gotta check out the ROGUE GYPSIES … too funny!

If you’d like to see the HSN presentation, check out the rest of the HSN Scrapbooking shows I see on their schedule.

5-6am
8-10am
1-2pm
6-7pm

These are PST; look HERE if you need to run another time zone.

If you want the Gypsy now but, like me, can’t afford it and really shouldn’t get it, check HERE and see if the Peas can talk you down off the ledge. They make some good points: Use an iPhone app to do the same thing. Use all that money for other scrappy stuff, SCAL, or Design Studio. For a bit more, buy an Expression. Use a coupon code, try to win one, or wait for the price to come down. You know, that kind of thing…

ETA 9/24/09: I very much WANT a Gypsy, but I’m not getting one anytime soon. Not in my budget :( And I can’t ask for it for Christmas, as my big-ticket Christmas gift has already been purchased by my DH and mom….I asked for a new set of crop bags. Will do a post on those soon…

So, what do you think about the Gypsy? Is it a “must have” or can you resist it’s magnetic pull?