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

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.

We are through the roof ecstatic to see an 8-page spread of our handmade creations showcased in this new book Print/Maker by Uppercase Magazine! We are truly humbled to be included alongside so many talented peers, friends and artists we've carried over the years!

The book contains 48 profiles, 368 pages and over 660 images from all sorts of printmaking mediums like silkscreen, letterpress, risograph, linocut and more by artists from all around the globe!

Available now in our Halifax shop!

We are thrilled to announce that this Spring, we're moving 500 metres north to a brand new retail location at 2011 Brunswick Street!

Our new location will offer an accessible entrance at street level, consistent temperature controls (our paper products will be so happy!) and lots of natural light with large floor to ceiling windows!

After nearly 6 years on Market Street, we'll be joining 2 Crows Brewing and Roll it Up Sushi in the Brunswick Heights area between Duke & Cogswell. (We’ve been told a few more new businesses will be announced soon too!)

The new location is handy to access when walking from the North End to Downtown Halifax! There is a bike lane right outside the shop, many bus routes nearby and more than double the on street parking of our current location!

It’s with gratitude + excitement that WE THANK YOU for supporting Inkwell and invite you to stay tuned for news on our progress!

Please help us share the exciting news far and wide.

Best!

Andrea & team Inkwell

Inkwell Originals, our in-house product line will have a table at the Halifax Crafters Spring Market! Join us and 75+ talented makers this Saturday & Sunday (April 30-May 1) from 10am-5pm at the Olympic Centre (corner of Hunter & Cunard)!

Inkwell Originals will also be selling at The Dartmouth Makers Spring Market on May 7! Find us + 45 talented makers at the Christ Church Parish Hall - 61 Dundas Street in downtown Dartmouth from 10am-6pm!