Shop in-store or online at Inkwell on Tuesday, Nov 29 and help us give back to our community. A percentage of our revenue today will be donated to the Canadian Mental Health Association (Nova Scotia Division) for Giving Tuesday.

CMHA NS provides advocacy, programs and resources that help to prevent mental ill health, support recovery and resilience, and enable all Nova Scotians to flourish and thrive.

🎁 Handmade Stocking Stuffers

🎁 Handmade Gifts under $25

🎁 Handmade Gifts under $50

🎁 Handmade Gifts under $75

🎁 Handmade Gifts under $100

🎁 Handmade Gifts over $100

🎁 Handmade Ornaments

🎁 Gift Wrap & Tags

Shop online or in-store - 1453 South Park Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Don't forget we also have gift cards available, if you can't decide!

Gifts are available while quantities last.

Saturday, August 6th is the first ever Stationery Store Day - it's not to be missed! Inkwell is excited to be a participating location!

We've got exciting in-store specials planned:

✏️ Free stationery themed letterpress print (no purchase necessary)

✏️ Stationery Goodie Bag (valued at more than $65!) with purchases over $40*

✏️ Stationery Store Day shopping bag with purchases over $75*
*In-store only. Total before tax. While quantities last.

💌 All online orders on 8/6/22 will receive the free stationery themed print! 

Our paper pals, Paper Hearts Halifax and Duly Noted are also participating! Stationery addicts, be sure to make a day of it and visit all 3 stores for treats and specials!

And if you're elsewhere in the country (or the world!), visit one of over 100 participating shops and spread the paper love.

After 5 years on Brunswick, we're moving and are beyond excited to let you know that Inkwell will soon be found on South Park Street!

Our new location is in a neighbourhood with complementary local businesses and a park across the street! Inkwell will be accessible by broad sidewalks, protected bike lanes, nearby bus stops, and street parking.

In June, you will find Inkwell in the Spring Garden Area of Halifax, sitting between the stylish folks at Thumpers Hair Salon and the tasty treats of Bliss Caffeine Bar! The block also includes local businesses Fawcett's Fine Jewellery, Thornbloom, as well as Dairy Bar in the warmer months.

While we're going to miss the friends we've made on Brunswick, we're confident that our customers will fall in love with our new digs! It will offer more space to display our handmade delights, as well as more space for our studio.

We’ll be open on Brunswick until we’re ready to make the leap. Until then, watch this space for updates — we’ll share some sneak peeks in the coming weeks!

This move wouldn’t be possible without all of YOU — I’ve truly been blown away by your continued support these last 11 years! I promise I’ll do everything I can to make our new space just as special as the two that you came to know and love. I hope you'll help us spread the word!

With so much gratitude + excitement,
💖
Andrea and team Inkwell

We're seeking to consign handmade products for our retail and online stores!

Do you have work you'd like to see featured at Inkwell? Or maybe you know a maker who produces great handmade items?

The talent of the local and international maker community is infinite. We believe representation matters and those who identify as BIPoC, LGBTQ+, Disabled and any minority groups are encouraged to apply!

Know a maker who might be interested in working with us? Please share, and we look forward to seeing what you've been making!

Apply today!

This week marks 10 years of business for Inkwell!

Thank you to the wonderful customers who shop at Inkwell. I'm so proud and thankful to still be here and couldn't have done it without your incredible support over the years - through all the highs and lows!

Over the last decade, we've had 2 different locations, countless open houses and book signings, printing demos and letterpress keepsakes, collaborations, crafting workshops, an in-house/wholesale product line, awards, accolades, and features on TV, in books, magazines and newspapers. We've gone from a one page website to a full e-commerce site with thousands of products.

During this time, we've made countless friendships, worked alongside the best employees and makers. I can't wait to see what the next 10 years will bring!

We've seen you, our customers, through the celebrations and sorrows that life brings and our community has seen us through the joys and challenges that shop ownership presents.

I hope you feel every purchase is a transfer of the enthusiasm I feel for everything we offer in Inkwell. I hope that some of the love that each maker puts into the handmade items we sell brightens your day, whether it's something for yourself or a gift for someone else.

Ten years in business is a major milestone and we'll celebrate in person when it's safe to do so.

Thank you all for your continued support and for allowing me to live my dream.

  Andrea

"At the Ladies of Letterpress 2020 conference, Jenny Wilkson of Partners in Print (formerly the SVC Letterpress Program) reminded and inspired us that hope can be more than a feeling, it can be a call to action. By the same token, taking action—working with meaningful purpose—inspires hope. As artists and printers, let’s use the power of print to create and disperse messages of hope amongst each other and throughout our communities. Messages that will inspire action, new ways of thinking, and new ways of being."

When we started to think about what our submission would be, the decision was made to use a polymer plate on our Vandercook SP-15 because we've been having great success with it. The idea of doing a reduction print was very appealing both to explore the technique, and as a cost saving measure. Is it possible to do a reduction print with polymer? After a few tests with older plates we determined we could not make deliberate cuts into the polymer and it did not seem like it was something that would produce results we were happy with. But then, we decided to do an untested technique we'll call 'destructive printing'!

The first colour, blue, was printed using the plate as we normally do, with some extra packing to ensure we get an impression in the paper. For the green colour run, we used a painters tool and a rusty hacksaw plate to chop, hack, and scratch the polymer. It felt so counterproductive to how we normally treat polymers! Bits and pieces were flying off, and a mess was made, but would it be enough? Would it have any impact on the next print run? It did!

We were so pleased to see how the scratches and indentations on the polymer translated to the print. Not only did the destructive marks translate visually, they resulted in an impressive tactile feel on the final print.

Thanks to Ladies of Letterpress, Partners in Print and the Printing Museum for arranging the print exchange, and to Jenny Wilkson for the inspiration for the print. We look forward to seeing what others have created. Remember, hope is action!

Printed on a Vandercook SP-15, January 2021 by Inkwell Originals
Polymer plate from Boxcar Press
Light grey 92lb coverstock from Reich Savoy
Printed with Pantone process blue and Pantone 2255

Like many of you, these past several days I have been reflecting on the recent (and historical) heartbreaking events affecting the Black community. We interrupt our pretty pictures to speak up about these racial injustices and to say #blacklivesmatter.

I acknowledge as a white Canadian woman, I'm able to travel through life with a privilege not felt by many.

To be honest, I was/am afraid to make this post. Afraid to say the wrong thing. But I am also afraid to say NOTHING. But I choose love for any person who is afraid for their lives because of their differences.

Change means discomfort and is part of how we learn and grow. I can do better, we can all do better and it all starts with small actions.

In addition to reading, listening and reflecting, I have donated to Black Lives Matter Solidarity Fund NS and if you have the means to, I encourage you to do so too!  There are also petitions you can sign your name to like the Color of Change petition against police brutality and justice for George Floyd.

I vow to make positive meaningful changes on both an individual and business level in educating myself on the things I can do to further make a difference. One resource in particular that I referenced to compose my thoughts is Save the Tears: White Woman's Guide.

At Inkwell, we value love, connection and support and know that you, our community do too. We're on the precipice of major and hopefully lasting change. Let's do better. Let's be better. I hope you will join me in doing the anti-racist work necessary to help move our world forward to lift up voices of the Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) in our community.

💗 Andrea

Paul MacKinnon, CEO of the Downtown Halifax Business Commission reading the Rebuild Nova Scotia insert.

The Halifax Chamber of Commerce has made the "Rebuild Nova Scotia" poster that appeared in the Saltwire.com flyer bundle across Nova Scotia available as PDF.

You're welcome to download and print one of your own posters to display with pride.

For those looking for a high quality, larger hand printed version, the 16x20 print is available for purchase here.