FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions…

Who is behind Imagine. Make. Believe?

Janelle, mother of four, has been crafting since she was a little girl.  She also enjoys cooking and cake sculpting, and loves to come up with new ways of doing things. Recently she has been studying visual art and has been constructing hand bags and other things from old discarded jigsaw puzzles.  She has an administration background and is the coordinator and editor of Imagine. Make. Believe.  Most of the icons, patterns, recipes, and party ideas are her work.

Craig, father to the four children, is busy with work away from Imagine. Make. Believe, however, he has some great business knowledge which he passes on from time to time, and he also provides his photography skills on occasions.  He enjoys talking to people and tinkering with vehicles.

Cris*, from Ten Random Facts, age 13 is our story writer, as well as our puzzle and game extraordinaire.  He is a hard worker and helps out in many other ways as well. He loves to read and one of his favourite games to play is chess.  You can read more about Cris at his website.

JJ*, from JJY Productions, is our main illustrator.  He is aged 11 and comes up with his own drawings, but also incorporates ideas from others in the family to ensure that there is a diversity and a consistency in the magazine.  JJ also likes to create three dimensional objects out of paper, cardboard, scissors and glue, so many of the PSG (Paper, Scissors, Glue) projects are his designs.  You can read more about JJ at his website.

Elissa*, aged 10, is a talented organiser.  As she grows older she will take on more responsibility to make sure deadlines are met, and coordinating us all.  In the meantime she will be the voice behind our video tutorials, and currently contributes where she can.  She loves to sing.

Annie*, aged 8, has a wide variety of creative talent.  She loves to dance, sing, act, write, draw, paint, construct, stitch and cook.  She is one of the main stitchers for the magazine, and many of her other creative ideas are included in Imagine. Make. Believe.

Daisy Couscous is a recent addition to our family, and is our resident pet Silkie bantam chook.  She loves to eat and peck around in the grass, and has contributed to fun times for the children.

Val, from Val Laird Designs is an extended family member, who is well known and accomplished in the stitching world.  She loves to stitch, applique and embroider and enjoys going birdwatching.  She is often called upon for sewing or stitching advice and is the main proof reader for the magazine.

* These names are the children’s online website names.

 

Who makes all the photographed samples?

The children and Janelle.  To ensure every project is achievable by children, each project is tested and made by at least one of the children in the house.  Most of the projects are also made by an adult (usually Janelle) to show variations and to ensure correct pattern writing.

 

Do you use centimetres or inches in the magazine and the patterns you produce?

We live in Australia, so we use Australian spelling and the Australian measuring system, which is metric.  We try and make the magazine and our patterns as easy to use as possible, in every way we can think of (lots!), because we have designed them for young school age children. So, we always have metric measurements, which includes centimetres, first, but we always put imperial measurements, which includes inches, in brackets after the centimetres or metric measurement.  Sometimes we may forget, but we try our best, so if we have forgotten to do that somewhere, please let us know, so we can fix it, and make it easier for everyone.

 

What is ‘gluten free’ and why do you include this and other options in your recipes?

Gluten is found in wheat, barley, rye and oats and so if something is ‘gluten free’ it does not contain any of these items or traces (small crumbs) of these items.  Some people, including children, can not have gluten, and sometimes this is because they have a medical condition called coeliac disease (can be spelt ‘celiac’ and sounds like ‘seeliac’).  If people with coeliac disease have any gluten… even a tiny speck, it can make them very sick, so they need to be very careful not to have any… at all… ever!

Two of our contributors, JJ and Elissa have coeliac disease which you can read more about in our story about coeliac disease.  Their doctor discovered  it in 2010, when JJ was 8 and Elissa was 6.  There were lots of changes to their food, as gluten is found in many things, especially cereals, breads, pasta, and treats, like cakes and biscuits.  They can still eat all those yummy things, but they need to eat specially made ones that contain no gluten.

Lactase is a special enzyme that your body normally produces which helps breakdown lactose (a special milk sugar).  Some people do not produce any or much lactase in their body, so if they have any milk products, they may feel uncomfortable in their tummy.  The doctors discovered in 2010, that Janelle is one of these people, so she has to have special milk products that do not contain lactose.

Since then, we have become very familiar with other food issues and allergies, and understand people’s need for food that is gluten free, dairy free, lactose free, nut free and so on.  So if you need to swap ingredients, you can do this easily with our suggestions.

 

If you have any questions about Imagine. Make. Believe that we haven’t answered above, please contact the editor.