http://vimeo.com/29702725
Sometimes I need a little inspiration to push ahead, so I am spending time today looking for new venues. Here is how I found Capsule.
Yes, I am inspired again. Just watch what a little bit of inspiration does for me. Unfortunately, 2014 NYC is locked down, so I guess you won’t see us there until 2015. The anticipation…
You gotta step up your game to make it to the top, so go!
:]
– La Mushpa
Come see us today at LIC Food and Flea. a special holiday market at 5-25 46th Avenue in Long Island City. We’ll be there from 11AM – 6PM. We won’t be doing next weekend so if you want to catch us, today is your lucky day!!!
If that is not enough there are a bunch of other vendors of all shape and sizes, Santa, live jazz, Christmas trees, a bar…
Ho, Ho Ho. Come…
– Mushpa y Mensa
Yes, these cute, limited time only, eco-felt, naturally holiday scented (peppermint or cloves), so delicious that someone has already taken a bite off of their cute head and leg, Gingerbread Peeps tree ornaments, are coming to you free of any shipping charges from us here at Mushpa y Mensa. Not only are these little guys postage free, but everything in our shop is as well. Sadly, this fabulous sale ends December 31st, so get it while you can! :]
What you want another way to get free shipping? Come see us @LIC Flea & Food Holiday Market. Not only do you get free shipping, but you can touch, see, smell, love everything before taking them home. You can feel the magic in person! :]
What? There’s more? Pictures with Santa? Yes. A fafillion artisans and culinary masters? Yes. Live jazz, DJs? Yes. The New York Cosmos soccer club (NASL Soccer Bowl Champions)? Again, yes. Bowling, Christmas trees, beer, wine and cocktails? Yes*5.
Just come!
Check out Mushpa y Mensa’s super fly new site (beta style), www.mushpamensa.com.
Nice.
– Mushpa y Mensa
We here at Mushpa y Mensa had an Instagram (which is owned by Facebook), but decided like Facebook, it is a tantamount waste of time and a way for a large group of people to convince others that their lives are more exciting, interesting, happier than going out and making it true. Not only that, but people should be aware how Facebook makes most of their money is by selling your information. Not through ad clicks and charging people with business pages money to have their posts reach ALL their “Fans” and “Friends” as you may believe. Listen, I want to live my life not spend hours stalking others’ make believe life or promoting my own better than reality life. Been there, done that and every time it left a bad taste in my mouth. Thanks to Mensa pushing us we have been Facebook free for almost a year now and I have yet to miss it. Not surprisingly, I accomplish much more without it, so to my friends who tell me things like, “You would have known I was out of town if you had a Facebook“. I say call me, email me, hangout with me as I am never going back!
Next, people are always asking us if we have a Facebook so they can “Like” the Mushpa y Mensa page or link back to us. When we answer no they seemed shocked like for sure we will never be a success without Facebook or it will be soooo much harder. I find that to be a misnomer. We have already had movie stars, a big time movie producer and a composer of modern day operas among multitudes of other amazing human beings love and buy our art in the last 8 months since opening. We believe in ourselves, our art and the idea that if you do the work and right thing the Universe will always reward you and thus far it is working. I have asked other people with businesses and Facebook pages how much business it has generated for them and the results are nil to nothing. That says more to me. Honestly, you can’t use something bad to achieve good, that’s just the way it is.
Let me stop and get to the real point of this blog entry. Maria Emilia and I want to be able to take pictures and post them somewhere instantly, link back to them in our blog posts and document our journey through photographs of the making of Mushpa y Mensa, without using Instagram, so how can we? Flickr!!! Yes, ladies and gentleman we have a Flickr account now full of our fantastical photos!!! :] There are photos of our amazingly unique organic tees, of the fleas, fairs and markets we’ve worked, photo shoots, crafting, us and whatever else our little hearts desire. Go look at it and tell us what you think? I am so excited!
Never forget in life there is always a workaround, so don’t get stuck.
With so much love!!!
– Mushpa
I went to visit my family this week in VA, and of course there had to be craft time with my small siblings. What better thing to do than sew a stuffed animal with Isabela’s mini-sewing machine!
It’s no industrial serger, nor does it even come close to stitching zigzag or reverse stitches….but it gets the job done! It was actually trickier to figure out that my own machine! After getting to know it though, Isabela, Abuela and the rest of the crew (aka Juan Lorenzo) sat around the dinning room table learning step by step how to make a little bear.
Steps we took.
1. Isabela sketched out a simple drawing, including the fabric that she would use for the body, tummy, ears and face or her bear.
2. We drew a simple pattern for the bear and she cut it out and pinned it to the fabric. She cut the fabric and began to pin the pieces together.
3. We found some old clothes, y la Abuela helped us cut out pieces of scrap fabric to use as stuffing for the bear. We also heard stories of la Abuela’s first sewing machine, which was operated by foot, and later adapted to sew with a small motor inside. : )
Then the sewing began….
It got a little tricky at times, but Isabela got the hang of it pretty quickly.
4. Finally we found some nice smelling tea leaves to stuff in the bear to give it a nice smell, and she closed and hand-stitched the body and head together. Y listo!
Isabela made a bear, and Juan Lorenzo filled the cushion with pins and “sewed a tomato!”
If you mold kids minds, and teach them how to make their own toys, dolls clothes and whatever else their minds come up with, you will be surprised with what they can do! I was definitely impressed.
: )
-Mensa a.k.a. “Memi”
When I see advertisements like these, a couple of things happen…
1. I laugh-cringe which is not giving me any joy particularly, but rather has the same effect as when you see someone hurt themselves really bad in those funny home video shows….it sucks and it’s not funny, but the human being sometimes handles it with laughter.
2. I get angry, because this is not a joke. Holy shit, this is real.
3. And finally I get scared…because the “activists and revolutionaries” are getting 15% off the entire store, and they are buying it…….
Let’s keep fighting against this surreal funny home video until the end.
Hasta la victoria siempre…
Mensa
So my backpack was on its last strides… I have had it for seven years and it has served me well. It had been to many places around the world, including little towns in Italy, many Christmases in Ecuador, and it carried everything from heavy college books, community organizing flyers and papers as well as our regular weekly groceries. She was definitely a trooper.
So now I need a new backpack…. And what better way to keep it real than to bust one out yourself! So instead of buying a bag, I’ve decided that I will make it! Not from scratch, BUT I will re-vamp a small bag I had,. I’ll add a couple of pockets, new heavy duty straps, a new flap with velcro….all done with my little hands!
So far it’s been a challenge. I didn’t think it would take so long….but it is not as complicated as it seems.
I had the foundation….
It’s a backpack with “ugly grandma fabric” but I think it is still very cute. I exchanged it with my sister in a clothes swap. It had a funny zipper an the straps were broken down from so much use.
I measured everything and sketched out a drawing of what it would look like with approximate measures.
The seam-ripper was my best friend for a couple of hours….while I un-did the previous straps, the zippers and the lining in order to have full access and revamp all the necessary details.
Since I had the foundation, I cut out patterns for the POCKETS, the FLAP, and the STRAPS. I didn’t use an offical pattern for the pocket or flaps, and I instead free handed the drawing making little updates as I moved along! I did use a pattern online for the straps through, and drew with the measurements given the two straps using newspaper.
I cut out all the main pieces and placed them with pins to see what it would look like…. it’s resembling something fancy now!
Using some bias tape, and an old pillow case for the lining, I finished the main flap, and the small pockets…. and so far its looking good.
This is the first update, but I will post the finished product once I am done this week.
Mushpa and myself have been having conversations about a bigger and better project in relation to this backpack. We have been asking ourselves…. Why not make it?
If I need a backpack….and we have the capable hands and tools to make it ourselves, then why not make it!?
It makes sense, right?
Now on to the finishing this beauty….
Until next time!
-Mensa
What you want to spread the word about out amazing, magical shop of art? No problem, here is a blurb that you may post away on your Facebook if you so choose…
Mushpa y Mensa, is a small eco-boutique that moves around the city’s outdoor (& at times indoor) markets, advocating for local, eco-conscious, women-owned, queer-owned, small businesses all over the world, and of course to spread our art, messages, laughter, & love! We (Cara Elaine (Mushpa) and Maria Emilia (Mensa)) hope people see we love what we’re doing (making a living selling our art), and get inspired to make small changes in their lives. Small moments become large movements. Mushpa y Mensa is a small team with really big dreams.
Come check out our cute shop here: www.mushpamensa.com
Wanna tweet some love as well? We’ve written something for you…
Small moments become large movements. Mushpa y Mensa is a small team with really big dreams. Come check us out http://www.mushpamensa.com
No, but seriously thanks to everyone that has supported us over these last few months. To family, friends and the multitudes of strangers we’ve met and not one of them we haven’t genuinely liked. People who have really made us feel good about our decision to do something different, doing what we love for a living.
Here’s to making it.
– Mushpa y Mensa
A nice afternoon, two cold and delicious ginger lemon cocktails, a bright colored wall, some nice shirts and your everyday fire escape was all we needed for an amazing photo-shoot.
To make something beautiful pop even more, I really feel like you only need a couple of essential things. And that’s all we used:
Amazing light, music, and a nice camera…
Here’s a sneak peak to our latest photo-shoot….
cute….
