Friday, November 25, 2016

The final edition


And so my friends, the hour is upon us... Extra Curricular has made it to number 20 (which seems so crazy!) and I've decided to call it a day. 

This final edition is the Coming of Age Issue, a theme which came to me as I was looking over the first few issues and cringing a little at the blind confidence and naivety that allowed me to believe I could publish a magazine. (Only a little mind you, because I am a firm believer in jumping in with both feet before you're 'ready'). In any case, I think it's come a long way since then.


The Coming of Age cover, illustrated by Katie Wilson.






From the moment it began eight years ago, it has always been a labour of love, both for me and for all the skilled contributors who make it happen – all in their spare time (more and more of them over the years thank goodness, or I'd still be illustrating the covers myself!)

I have so enjoyed each part (okay, most parts) of the process (getting advertising and chasing up invoices not high on my creative fulfilment list). But the negatives had started to outweigh the positives. I realised it's not something I need to do for many more years – there will be other projects to move onto. At the moment I'm taking a breather and looking forward to making time for some of the hands-on making that got me involved in the craft and design world in the first place. I can't wait!

– Ellie


(I just deleted a whole lot of this post as it was starting to sound like an Oscars speech. I'll put together a separate post of thank yous!)

You can order issue 20 here and here. Here's a look inside:





The Celestial Issue - a quick mention




I came here to post about issue 20 but then realised issue 19 hadn't even had a mention - there are about 12 copies left and I've listed a few 'collector's bundles' of our latest six - which includes even our latest issue! Get 'em while you can.

Our cover was illustrated by Flora Waycott, who has recently moved from Wellington to Sydney. Camille Khouri interviewed her for the issue, and Benjamin and Elise took some beautiful images.

We also spoke to jeweller Cheryl Sills, multi-disciplined illustrator Amane Cárdenas, potter Kirsten Dryburgh and graphite artist Chaya Kasif. In our tutorial section Sonya Nagels makes a Matariki constellation cushion, Amber Armitage shows you how to make a block print and Lisa Craig knits a pair of cosy knitted pompom slippers.