Some of you will know me on here, but to those who don't, I have worked at NRAS for 12 years now , most of that time on helpline and information and the last year or so solely working on updating information products.
In my spare time, I created a YouTube channel to show people how to do a variety of different crafts, as I've never been able to stick to just one craft and I love discovering new ones, so I'm hoping to inspire more people to take up a craft.
This awareness week, I created a video, using my hand crafting skills, to help promote the #OurMindsRAPriority message for the week. I thought I would share it on here in case any of you want to see it. Here's my video:
youtu.be/K-L4fyp-Wxo If you take a look at my channel you will also see that I have a video about crafting with arthritis and hopefully there will be some other crafts in there that might be of interest to some.
I hope you are enjoying RA Awareness week so far. We have had some great sessions on this week.
Victoria
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Victoria-NRAS
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Haha. Well, circles are hard to draw freehand! Not everyone wants to craft, but if you do, never be put off by feeling like you're not artistic. Often I think it's just about finding the right craft for you and some are simpler to get started with than others! Glad you liked it. x
I’m still on stick figures with 5 giant stick fingers . My reception children are better than me.. God forgot me in the art department all my children are the same 😂😂
You're really making me want to prove you wrong and find you a craft you could do and enjoy, but I will resist the urge! One of my best friends says she's not artistic, but I just got her into making things from shrink plastic. She doesn't have the constant urge to craft like I do though. We're all different after all, and I am awful at a lot of other people's favourite hobbies!
😂 Me too!I need to add more exercise to my hobbies! Shrink plastic is a sheet of paper-thin plastic. You cut out a shape and it shrinks down to about 1/7 the size, but about 7 times thicker, so you can cut out a fairly basic looking, not very precise shape with a hole punched hole, shrink it down and have a nice keyring or necklace pendant. I've made a palm tree necklace from it. Basic palm tree shape that you could easily just print off to cut out and it looks much more intricate when it shrinks. I'm telling you, anyone can do a craft! P.s. I do know I'm not winning this argument! 😂😂😂
I’m still doing stick figures and giant stick fingers.my sons take after me . One teacher said God just forgot to give you art when he made you. This is a brilliant video. Well done .
Haha! That made me giggle! Actually, one of my craft videos does feature potato printing, which I used for leaves on a tree when I painted a jungle scene for my nephew's bedroom wall, so i'd still call it a craft! I love the idea that your school put people into 'potato printing' as a kind of code for 'art not their strong point' though, and well done for being good at languages, which I always wished I was better at. I started trying to learn Hawaiian once, but hard to learn a language you have little use for, even when visiting the place, where most residents are now American!
Thank you! I've been wanting to do something RA related for a long time. I really like the message for RA week this year as I am also a big supporter of improving mental health, so was pleased to be able to merge my 2 worlds!
I do a lot of art (some commissions and for my own pleasure) and some selected crafts (I’m an artist and printmaker) and love to see new work! I look forward to seeing yours when I have a quiet moment later today. 💗 Craft and art is very therapeutic but not the reason I have done it (since I could pick up a pencil as a child!) but it does help you focus and takes your mind away from the things that trouble us and we’ve all got plenty of those at the mo! Thank you for sharing. Also thank you for helping me (and so many others) as I spoke with you in 2014 when deciding re biologics. Your support and advice was excellent. x
Thank you so much, that's lovely to hear, especially if you remember me from that 6 years later. I'm so pleased I was able to help and hearing that has made my day!
Yes, I feel the same. I love seeing other people's art and like you have always been creative. Some of my friends never have and I try not to force it on them, but I do think a lot of people think they lack the skills, but would love to give it a go, so I'm always trying to tell people that it's just about finding the right one for you and if you love it, you'll improve all the time anyway! I could never paint faces (still can't do teeth) but I tried again this year and have done some back and white paintings and am actually pretty pleased with them!
You’re most welcome and yes you made me feel comfortable about accepting Rituximab! I’m going to have a cuppa and a look at your art and enjoy I am sure in about an hour. 💗
Just wanted to say thank you for your encouragement and support, not justfor my video, for which I am personally grateful for the lovely comments, but for RA awareness week as a whole. If you are on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or YouTube please remember to look NRAS up and like/subscribe/follow. It enables you to see all the things we get up to and also increases the chances of other people seeing posts about RA, which helps us to raise awareness of this under recognised condition!
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Not everyone wants to craft, but if you do, never be put off by feeling like you're not artistic. Often I think it's just about finding the right craft for you and some are simpler to get started with than others! 
Glad you liked it. x
Addressing the RAAW video
RA Awareness Week (RAAW) begins on Monday - Test your friends and family on their RA knowledge
