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

Please enjoy these free printables!

We'd love to see your finished artwork or posters hanging! Tag us on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter @inkwellboutique!

Nova Scotia Mayflower (We Bloom Amid the Snow) colouring sheet

Halifax Streetcar Paper Toy activity

Enjoy this free printable colouring page that you can cut out and make into a paper toy! Click here or on image to download. We'd love to see your finished toys! Tag us on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter @inkwellboutique! Check out our other printables here!

Enjoy this free printable colouring page! Click here or on image to download.We'd love to see your artwork! Tag us on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter @inkwellboutique! Check out our other printables 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!