On The Saturday Cafe, Maria McCann has been looking at hobbies and the benefits derived from them. Through this research she came across Diamond Painting, and Rachel Rae, on YouTube.

Maria was interested to note that Rachel used the expression, "having the craic" on one of her videos. This led her to realise that Rachel is living in rural Ireland, Kerry to be precise, so she reached out to her.

Speaking to Maria, Rachel explained what Diamond Painting is:

It's basically paint by number but you're using these little recycled stones.. and it makes the picture sparkle once it's completed. So it looks almost 3D.

Rachel told Maria that she was diagnosed with depression and anxiety disorder, and that she wanted to use her space online as a way to advocate for mental health awareness.

Rachel's YouTube channel, which started out as a purely Diamond Painting channel, now covers other crafts including cross stitching. She now has 40,000 subscribers.

"I like to use my platform to show people that you can be kind, and you can use your voice for good, so whatever crafting I'm doing, I'm trying to be aware of that, and it's really connected people, especially with the pandemic," Rachel said.

You can view her work here

Have a listen to her chat with Maria, through the link in this podcast.

For all Saturday Cafe podcasts, click here.