My whole Boutique Stamps experience was great. I initially emailed with some questions after seeing a Facebook ad for their products and Casey was very quick to reply and super helpful and accommodating. She even allowed me to change some of the words on the outside ring! (She replaced "cats" with "bunnies" and "coffee" with "tea" for me, which better reflects my preferences.) Great service overall and I'm very pleased. :)
This embosser specifically is also lovely. The device was a little smaller than I expected, which is great! I thought it'd be a big honking thing like those old school office staplers, but thankfully this fits within my hand easily, and my hands are on the smaller side of average. It's easier to store than I expected because it's not huge, and the handle easily locks into a closed position. As for use, it does take a bit of trial and error to figure out how much pressure to apply to get a clear impression without pressing so hard that it rips the paper around the letters, but I find it's not something I have to be that careful about with thicker paper. Thinner paper does require a careful grip though. I'm glad I practiced on spare paper before using it on my books.
If you're on the fence between this embosser and the stamp version like I was, you can do what I did and just get both. XD But if you really must choose, consider if you want a subtle or distinct marking (embosser vs stamp), as well as how versatile you want its use to be. The stamp can be pressed anywhere on the page, whereas the embosser has to be lined up with the edge of the page. Personally, I like the embosser for marking my books since it's subtle enough to not draw attention away from the book itself, but it's still legible so people can see it belongs to me. It looks really professional and elegant, which particularly suits my hardcovers. The stamp can work for this purpose as well, but it draws a lot more attention to itself. So instead I like to use the stamp in notebooks, sketch books, my paper planner, and any printed pages I want returned to me later. I like that it lets me label anywhere on the page for those things vs just the corner. But in my books I like the consistency the embosser gives of always making an impression on the same part of the page.
I highly recommend buying from Boutique Stamps! I'm very pleased with my experience and purchase.
