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: