We are offering a great package of products and services to help get your project off the ground. This is a combination of must haves:
1. Logo (for digital and print) 2. Postcard and Poster formats for print 3. Social media graphics for Twitter, Instagram and Facebook 4. 100 mini moo business cards shipped to you 5. WordPress.com setup and training (sans paid upgrades)
This amazing package is $1000 CA (Friends receive a 50% discount).
We realize the time and effort it would take most people to complete these tasks and we have streamlined them down to approximately 10 hours so you don’t have to spend hours in front of a computer figuring this out. We take care not to overload ourselves in the process and implement only the very necessary digital tools needed by todays world, most importantly, a blog for you to write in from any device. When you hire us to take care of this for you, we are instilling ethical and balanced digital use practices and will set up your tools so that you can spend less time facing a digital screen and more time doing your thing. Besides, who doesn’t love receiving beautifully designed, top quality business cards to get you started with confidence?
Entire payment is required upfront before commencing. Ideal timeframe for completion is 2-4 weeks but is flexible. Contact us for a free 15 min consultation to see if we are the right fit for your project. If you are financially unable to afford this package, please inquire about a sliding scale option.
Testimonials
“As a holistic practitioner starting my business this was a big help to me. Maria helped me get off the ground and I am thrilled with the results. I love my logo she created and my business cards are better than I imagined. Maria knows all of the tools you need to get set up … Continue reading Ananda Life→
“Maria draws from a deep creative well. Her work consistently upholds integrity and beauty. With her strong intuitive nature, we have co-created exactly the products that represent my true intentions. I am grateful for her work” – Madelin Emery
“Maria is an excellent technical and creative professional with multitalented capabilities for supporting your online work. She explained and taught me with great passion and detail how to create a TikTok video for promotional work for my job which garnered many views! Maria also created a beautiful and unique logo for my work as an … Continue reading Ann Cummings Creative→
This is a great package for a Reiki practitioner who is wanting to set up a business working with animals.
You get high quality graphics, here’s what you get:
1. Business card 3.5 x 2 inch front and back digital design 2. Facebook banners – 5 images / designs 3. Instagram images – 10 images / designs 4. Logo – 5 variations including transparency 5. Large poster size 18 x 24 (inches) – 2 images / designs (can be printed smaller) 6. Gmail account – all you have to do is sign in and change the password 7. Blog – easily accessible, already formatted and attached to the gmail (you can see it at https://softpawreiki.blogspot.com) 8. Double sided 11×8.5 inch trifold company brochure 9. Cat and dog Chakra 5.5 x 4.25 inch postcard 10. Up to 1 hour of technical support or orientation
Bonus tools: Intake form pdf for your clients animals
This is one of a kind package, only you will have this particular design and name. This will not be replicated. All designs were created in the professional (paid) version of Canva.com, but use your email to easily sign up and continue making free images for your needs.
Send me your name and I will update it on the business card and brochure and send the files to you on Etsy messenger. From there we can set up your 1 hour of orientation / technical help on whatever system works best for you.
Please note: I cannot guarantee that someone else might not be using the same name in your area, the planet is a big place. You may or may not need to get creative for name picking depending on what social media you set up on.
Why buy my work? If you want to know more about me, my professional experience and education, please visit carefulcrafters.com
This ready to go out of the box tarot and oracle content implementation kit is ready for you to take the controls. All the work has been done for you, all you have to do is to log in and start editing your blog and adding your information. Use for your own personal practice or use for launching your card reading business. Get your tarot and oracle cards ready cause here we go!
You get high quality graphics, here’s what you get:
1. Business card front and back digital designs 2. Facebook banners – 7 images / designs 3. Instagram images – 17 images / designs 4. Logo – 5 variations including transparency 5. Large poster size 18×24 (inches) – 3 images / designs (can be printed smaller) 6. Gmail account – all you have to do is sign in and change the password 7. Blog – easily accessible, already formatted and attached to the gmail (you can see it at https://amethystlunareadings.blogspot.com) 8. Up to 1 hour of technical support or orientation
Bonus tools: Tarot card cheat sheet pdf & 3 different spreads pdf
You will receive a total of 35 files
This is one of a kind package, only you will have this particular design and name. I chose the name “Luna” as the word “moon” seemed taken. This will not be replicated. All designs were created in the professional (paid) version of Canva.com, but use your email to easily sign up and continue making free images for your needs.
Send me your name and I will update it on the business card and send the file to you on etsy messenger. From there we can set up your 1 hour of orientation / technical help on whatever system works best for you.
Please note: I cannot guarantee that someone else might not be using the same name in your area, the planet is a big place. You may or may not need to get creative for name picking depending on what social media you set up on.
You can use free, online tools and websites, to test your visual concept, before you decide to take it to the next level. I originally did this for Careful Crafters several years ago when I sourced The Noun Project to find the right symbol to represent my idea at the time. While I was not working on this project for several years actually, as I was focused on other projects such as Rainforest Reflexology (that still has a Noun Project symbol as a logo), my previous logo concept remained here for several years until I was ready to spend more time with the project. The evolution came when I decided to draw hundreds of Nordic petroglyphs over the past year, while making tarot and oracle cards. I discovered that when I placed several symbols together, I had the exact logo I needed.
This past weekend, I was able to capture a photo of a seedling in flight – the perfect reflection of the new logo I had recently created. I have included the symbols I used in the evolution of my concept above. I started this website 5 years ago with the box in the hand concept, and then progressed into hands holding a sprout to finally releasing of a seedling – the metaphor representing the nurturing of the seed being the concept of a project then releasing it into the world. I always wanted something that was more organic and personal to my vision so I am happy I was able to evolve this. However this is not always possible for everyone, so starting with ideas from such websites is an excellent place to plant your own idea seed. I hope you find this post helpful in your endeavours.
This is my first designed self-paced mini-course developed using academic theories and principles while a student at Algonquin College. This is the prerequisite course for Blogging as a Healing Modality (covering WordPress, YouTube, Canva, Pinterest) currently under development. This mini-course can be taken as a stand-alone and is recommended for adopting as a digital stewardship if blogging is of interest to you. Course will take about 2 hours to complete including the readings, videos and activities.
By the end of this mini-course, you should be able to complete the following:
Establish body position to prevent occupational injuries while using technology
Identify digital use implications to better balance your technology use
Explain how blogging can reduce stress through story telling
Explain how vlogging can improve cognitive function
Apply holistic therapies to relieve tension from technology use
Please note: TalentLMS has removed the free course option and I am no longer able to provide access to this. You can find the course core content below.
Why I made this mini-course
After a series of digital use injuries (back pain, tendonitis, vertigo, eye strain, anxiety), I studied a range of holistic therapies to help bring balance to my digital work. Now, as a certified healing arts practitioner, this mini-course introduces forest bathing, reflexology, reiki and yoga to bring relief to the mind and body to offset the stressors that technology can bring. After practicing these therapies for 5 years, I am now balancing my digital use in a more productive and sustainable way, and I hope to help others do the same.
Introduction
Wellness in the digital age has become paramount as there are concerning mental and physical implications from using technology. Digital use pertains to hardware: computers, mobile phones, iPads/tablets, and the software they support on those devices that involve scrolling, typing, mousing, and texting. It’s imperative that before you set out on a digital project, that you establish technology stewardship over yourself and utilize holistic tools to counter the negative implications that technology use may have on you.
Too much of anything will bring about imbalance in the body and so this module supersedes the technology learning modules ahead, so that you can equip yourself with the proper knowledge of keeping yourself safe when using digital technologies. This module will not go into major detail about privacy and ethicality but it’s a good idea to follow some important rules: do not publish your personal phone number, address, social security number or any other pertinent identification on the Internet as this is a risk for identify theft and overall safety of your whereabouts. If you wish to remain completely hidden from search engines then you can keep your work private.
“The medium is the message. This is merely to say that the personal and social consequences of any medium – that is, of any extension of ourselves – result from the new scale that is introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves, or by any new technology”. – Marshall McLuhan (Canadian Communication Theorist)
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, you should be able to complete the following:
Establish body position to prevent occupational injuries while using technology
Identify digital use implications to better balance your technology use
Explain how blogging can reduce stress through story telling
Explain how vlogging can improve cognitive function
Apply holistic therapies to relieve tension from technology use
Key Terms or Concepts
Key Terms or Concepts
Definition
Blogging
Digital form of journaling
Digital Use
Implications of using technology
Ergonomics
Body position in relationship to using a computer or device
Forest Bathing
A form of nature therapy
Reflexology
Ancient practice of applying pressure to reflexes
Reiki
Japanese form of energy healing
Vlogging
Video form of blogging
Reviewing The Workstation
As we use digital technology, we often forget about the impacts our body endures in the process. Proper positioning of the body in relationship to technology will prevent injuries to eyes, neck, arm, hand, wrist and spine.
Activity: Adjust or prepare your workstation as recommended in video and article. If you do not have access to a traditional desk and chair, please refer to the adjustments I have made for working with a laptop at a kitchen table with a regular chair. See this image
Consider:
lumbar support pillow for the back
yoga block under table to raise up the knees
raised laptop on a stand for eye level
additional keyboard for proper positioning – you may also use a rolled up facecloth under your wrists
mouse with wrist supportive mousepad substitution for the trackpad
Learning About Digital Use
Digital use implications come from the positive and negative affects of using digital hardware and software. For this section, you will examine the concerns that digital use have on our society, and what you can do to mitigate any negative effects along your journey. As a digital specialist, I personally have dealt with a variety of impacts both mental and physical in nature and I don’t want to see that happen to you. Through balancing your use of digital technology, you will learn to prevent mental and physical injuries.
The following information is from a free seminar I attended hosted by Dr. Paul Mohapel of Royal Roads University, September of 2019. This link will provide you with some strong scientific facts about digital use that will help guide you along your blogging path in a more positive way. The idea is not to disregard digital technology, but to use it in a more ethical and holistic way.
Here are some key points from the presentation:
Multitasking maybe shrinking our brains
Canadians has the highest screen time average
Average person checks phone every 15 mins
Distraction is the biggest threat to productivity
Hand-eye coordination activities help heal the brain
Practicing mindfulness reverses distraction
Read the blog article about Digital Use Implications that I compiled from the live presentation.
Media Effects
Watch video about our modern digital use as seen through the lens of Canadian communication theorist, Marshall McLuhan.
Visit McLuhan’s Tetrad to consider how digital use is affecting our society.
Activity: Review and monitor your digital use. Consider the amount of time you use your mobile device for texting and time spent on social media. Do you use a screen time app to monitor your device use? If not, do you think you could benefit from one?
What was the biggest take away from the presentation notes? Did McLuhan’s work help you identify digital use effects?
My Personal Blogging Experience
I started blogging in 1999 at the start of its conception. At the time, many designers used the system for news blasts and cross linking to other websites, to drive traffic. From the start, I used it as a journaling system, talking about my life. I built many blogs and helped others to learn how to use a blog. One of my blogs was even highlighted as a “Blog of Note” by Google. I completed my Masters in communication and technology in order to examine how technology was affecting our society.
After I completed my Masters, I veered off into the healing arts for 5 years where I explored a range of modalities to help relieve myself from various health issues in part brought on by my digital use, such as tendonitis, back pain, vertigo, and anxiety. I spent several years studying different healing modalities and measured their outcomes on myself: Reiki, reflexology and forest bathing all of which play an active role in my life today.
During this time, I also found that while blogging, I experienced a type of catharsis and by sharing my work, it helped others.
In their study, Petko et al writes “blogging has been documented as a powerful tool to cope with stressful situations in different fields of application… information sharing and social support as essential elements of weblogs seem to provide effective support for writers to overcome stressful situation” (2015).
Activity: Reflect upon how story telling or journaling through blogging can bring stress relief in your own life. Now is a good time to write down some ideas of what you want to talk about in your own blog.
Case Study of Luis
Early on in developing this course, I came across a YouTube channel called The Accessible Van Life about a young Mexican man named Luis who endured a tragic brain injury after a motorcycle accident. During the first couple of years after the accident, he was isolated, confined and unable to connect to the world and fell into a deep depression.
With difficulties moving and speaking, and with financial limitations to travel, his small family were lost as to what to do to help him. Fortunately, a very successful YouTube creator called Special Books by Special Kids covered his story in 2018, fundraised money to get him an accessible van and inspired him to start his own YouTube channel which later became a reality with help from his wife Lexi.
Together, they have been sharing their life and Luis’s progress. They found that blogging, and in this case vlogging, has played a direct role in his recovery from depression, built his confidence and improved his cognitive abilities.
Activity: How did you feel and what did you learn by watching Luis’s story? This is a good time to think about how vlogging can improve your confidence and bolster your blog entries.
Will you tell a story?
Create an educational video?
Produce a scenic video?
Jot down some ideas that inspire you.
Introduction to Therapies
In additional to an ergonomically correct workstation, it’s important to take frequent breaks for a minimum of 10 mins every 30 mins to 1 hour. Our brains cannot process for hours on end so consider stepping away and apply some holistic therapies.
Next are a list of helpful holistic activities for calming your parasympathetic nervous system.
Forest Bathing – A form of eco therapy. Visit Virtual Forest Bath for reducing stress. Read an article or watch a video on the resource page to learn how nature therapy works. You can use the blog posts if you cannot access a real forested area.
Reflexology – Ancient holistic therapy of reflex pressure. Visit Reflexology for Stress for applying stress relief to hands and Reflexology for TMJ for relieving facial tension as we hold tension in our face and around our jaw.
Reiki – Japanese form of energy healing. Check out Self-Applied Reiki with special attention to cupping of eyes for relieving eye strain.
Activity: Combine and apply holistic therapies. Consider using these before, during and after your digital sessions. What kind of therapies did you enjoy the most and why?
Quiz
True or False?
Using my laptop on my lap is safe for my posture
Humans are good at multitasking
Blogging can be beneficial for stress relief
Vlogging can help build confidence and cognitive skills
Holistic therapies are all hogwash and not helpful at all
Summary
Balancing a healthy relationship with technology is essential for sustainability. Throughout the course, you established your ergonomic set up for injury prevention and considered ways to balance your digital use. You learned about how blogging can have a positive impact on reducing stress, and how vlogging can improve confidence and build cognitive skills. Finally, you have applied some holistic therapies to help you throughout your digital journey. You are now ready to begin your blogging journey!
Participate
Join me on Pinterest at Maria Peronino and join the Digital Wellness pinboard to add, view and engage with pins.
Alo Moves – Online Yoga & Fitness Videos. (2019, October 19). How to do corpse pose | savasana tutorial with Briohny Smyth [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VYlOKUdylM
Petko, D., Egger, N., Schmitz, F. M., Totter, A., Hermann, T., & Guttormsen, S. (2015). Coping through blogging: A review of studies on the potential benefits of weblogs for stress reduction. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 9(2), article 5. doi: 10.5817/CP2015-2-5
Special Books by Special Kids. (2018, November 15). The marriage that’s surviving a brain injury (Eternal Love) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rpzg4C9UL8U
