Category Archives: T-shirts

Only 7 Days Left To Make Herstory!

May 21, 2014Art, Etsy, Fashion, Feminism, Gay, Green, happiness, Inspiration, Kickstarter, Latina, Lesbian, Organic, Queer, Small Business, Social Media, T-shirts, Woman Owned Businessart, artist, Cara Reynolds, eco-friendly, etsy, fashion, gay, handmade, Happiness, homemade, kickstarter, kickstarter project, lesbian, love, Maria Emilia Borja, Mensa, Mushpa, Mushpa Y Mensa, Mushpa y Mensa Kickstarter, Mushpa y Mensa's Magical Motor Machine Makeover!, organic, queer, recycledcara007

It is the final week of Mushpa y Mensa’s Magical Motor Machine Makeover and we are 72% funded. We need your help in these last few days to get that other 28%. As you may or may not know, if we do not reach 100% we receive 0%. That cannot happen.

For those unaware of what Mushpa y Mensa’s Magical Motor Machine Makeover is all about, click here, https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mushpamensa/mushpa-y-mensas-magical-motor-machine-makeover to learn more. It is worth it, cool drawings, awesome 3 minute video, super interesting plan! To sum it up rather nicely, it is about, “Two Brooklyn girls, their art, and their hope to fit it all into a box truck!”. The essentials photo above is our artist’s rendering of what we actually need to make that happen. If you would like to see the actual list of everything we need and how we got to the $7,300 amount you may click here.

I wish I had more time to get into all the juicy details, but I must go finish fundraising the world! :] Soon we will be able to come to you. Isn’t that cool? So check it out and show some love via pledging if you so choose. In addition to your pledge, feel free to post the link on Facebook… Tweet… Insta… Pin… Tumblr… etc… Spread the love! :] https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mushpamensa/mushpa-y-mensas-magical-motor-machine-makeover

Thank you to all of those who have supported us thus far and to all of our future dream makers!

– Mushpa

Here Comes Mushpa Y Mensa!

April 2, 2014Art, crafts, DIY, Environment, Etsy, Fashion, Flea Market, Green, Homemade, Jewelry, Organic, sewing, Small Business, Stuffed Animal, T-shirts, Woman Owned Businessart, artist, Astoria Flea and Food, Astoria Flea and Food @Kaufman Astoria Studios, Cara Reynolds, clay bead necklace, clay beads, clothes, crafts, East Northport Jewish Center Vendor Fair, eco-friendly, felt, handmade, home-made, homemade, jewlery, Kaufman Astoria Studios, LIC Flea & Food, Maria Emilia Borja, Mensa, Mushpa, Mushpa Y Mensa, necklace, organic, plush animals, recycled, stuffed aimals, stuffed animal, tablet case, Whisper Vineyards Long Island Art Showcara007

Guess what time it is??? Flea Market season!!! Oh snap, you mean you can check out our wares in person, hang with us, tell us all your deepest, darkest secrets and buy amazing art all under the gorgeous NYC sun? Yes, that’s exactly what I mean!

Click here or any of the cute market photos in this entry to see where we will be at, when we are there and how cool it is going to be when you get there. We are even venturing out to that other world called Long Island in May, so if you live on the island and stay out of the city, you to will have the opportunity to chill with La Mushpa y La Mensa! Seriously. :]

We can’t wait to see you.

– La Mushpa

You Look Fine!

March 14, 2014crafts, Gay, happiness, Inspiration, Latina, Lesbian, Photography, Queer, Small Business, T-shirts, Woman Owned Businessart, artist, beauty, Cara Reynolds, everything matters, gay, handmade, handmade jewelry, judgement, lesbian, Maria Emilia Borja, Mensa, Mushpa, Mushpa Y Mensa, nature, organic cotton shirts, photography, queer, urbanizationcara007

First I’ll draw you in with pictures…

You really do…

Remember…

No, but for real…

Hug.

Then we’ll give you the chance to love Mushpa y Mensa…

What, you want to sign up for our newsletter to find out all the amazing things we have going on??? Ok, here…

– Mushpa

Don’t Eat Your Food Dyes!

January 27, 2014Art, crafts, DIY, dyes, Environment, Etsy, Flea Market, food color, Gay, Green, happiness, Homemade, How-To, T-shirtsalternative to food coloring, art, artist, Cara Reynolds, eco-friendly, food coloring, food coloring for crafts, handmade, home-made, Maria Emilia Borja, Mensa, Mushpa Y Mensa, t shirt designs, tie dye with food coloring, tie dye with no chemicals, what to do with old food coloringcara007

If your food dyes don’t come from naturally derived sources, we say it’s better to keep them off your body! If you still have some around…then….

DO AN ART PROJECT!

1. Find your colors and add hot water to a container or sink.

2. Add vinegar or salt or any other mordant to make the dye stay on the fabric.

3. Dip the shirts in and let the fun begin!

We played around with different colors and techniques, but it gave us a definite hippy tie-dyed look! Totally ….

You can let the shirts sit in the dye anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. This was an experiment for us, so the results will come in soon!

And this is what our stomachs might look like when we drink the Kool-Aid… gross!

So don’t…

Use your old dyes on things that won’t die!

-Mensa

Mushpa y Mensa’s Super Fly New Site

October 13, 2013accessories, Art, Clothes, craft, crafts, Cuban, DIY, Ecuadorian, Environment, Etsy, Fashion, Feminism, Gay, Green, Homemade, Inspiration, Jewelry, Latina, Lesbian, sewing, Small Business, Stuffed Animal, T-shirts, Woman Owned Business, Womenartist, Cara Reynolds, etsy, fashion, gay, handmade, home-made, homemade, jewlery, lesbian, love, Maria Emilia Borja, Mensa, Mushpa, Mushpa Y Mensa, music video, necklace, organic, plush animals, queer, screen printing, stuffed aimals, stuffed animal, t shirt designs, t-shirts, toyscara007

Check out Mushpa y Mensa’s super fly new site (beta style), www.mushpamensa.com.

Nice.

– Mushpa y Mensa

The 100th Post of La Mushpa y La Mensa

September 11, 2013accessories, Art, craft, crafts, Cuban, DIY, Ecuadorian, Environment, Etsy, Fashion, Gay, Green, Homemade, How-To, Latina, Lesbian, Photography, Queer, sewing, Small Business, Stuffed Animal, T-shirts, Woman Owned Business, Women100th post, artist, Cara Reynolds, diy, etsy, fashion, from scratch, gay, handmade, home-made, homemade, lesbian, love, Maria Emilia Borja, Mensa, Mushpa, Mushpa Y Mensa, organic, plush animals, queer, recycletdaait

Mensa and I are always talking about consuming less, needing less, getting rid of excess. Things that anchor us to one place be it literally, monetarily or mentally.

We do little things like take our worn out old clothes, wash them and then cut them into a million little pieces to stuff our Plush Pets…

Plush Rabbit — Pierre, the Lavender, Recycled Fabric, Eco-Felt Plush Pet

…or make some deeelicious seitan from scratch, while whipping up some organic, coconut oil based mayo… I personally am extremely gifted in mixing alcohol with almost any “leftover” liquids (frozen or flowing) and it tasting like nothing you’ve ever had before (in a very good way).

Some bigger things are Mensa creating an amazing backpack out of an old bag, after her million year old bag disintegrated right before our very eyes. The very backpack we packed with soy milk (something we have talked about learning how to make since we consume so much of it…stay tuned) and such this weekend after working in the co-op (don’t ask). We biked over 8 miles and this revitalized beauty made it through like a champion!

We also made our fantastical Mushpa y Mensa cloth sign out of old pillow cases and fabric pieces. See below…

Mushpa y Mensa Sign — Mushpa y Mensa – Arts Not Crafts!

We are making it happen more and more every day, but we need a challenge….something to keep our momentum soaring towards our destiny. What we came up with is…well let’s start slow, why don’t you get to know us first…see what we mean when we say “from scratch”.

From the Inside — La Mensa’s Robot Girl With a Twist

We are here for a reason, all of us. Let’s make some stuff together, see what we think, then figure something out. Let’s connect as they say, in a good way.

This is our 100th blog post and the start of something gargantuous! :] Life, as La Mensa would say is, “pretty bad-ass.”

– La Mushpa

Funny Che

July 27, 2013Activism, Clothes, Cuban, Fashion, Gay, International, Political, Politics, T-shirtsCara Reynolds, che, che guevara, funny, hypocrisy, ironic, Maria Emilia Borja, Mensa, Mushpa, Mushpa Y Mensa, not funny, political, shirts, wake up worldMaria Emilia

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

Here’s To Making It

June 23, 2013Art, Clothes, crafts, Cuban, Ecuadorian, Etsy, Fashion, Gay, Lesbian, Queer, T-shirts, Woman Owned Businessart, artist, Cara Reynolds, etsy, fashion, handmade, lesbian, Maria Emilia Borja, Mensa, Mushpa Y Mensa, organic, stuffed animal, t-shirtstdaait

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

Art in Action.

June 9, 2013Art, Clothes, craft, Cuban, DIY, Ecuadorian, Etsy, Fashion, Gay, Latina, Lesbian, Queer, T-shirts, Woman Owned Businessart, artist, Cara Reynolds, eco-friendly, fashion, Fulton Flea, handmade, lesbian, Maria Emilia Borja, Mushpa Y Mensa, organic, t shirt designsMaria Emilia

Remember in science class we would do random experiments that would ultimately teach us something about our elemental world. Salt crystals, freezing flowers with liquid nitrogen and then shattering them, testing liquids and forming chemical reactions? Well, quite accidentally we did an experiment when dying a shirt this week and it was totally cool!

We dyed a batch of shirts with organic turmeric. Note that this was our first time using this specific natural dye for cotton fabrics. Pretty straight forward dying technique. Hot water + a good amount of turmeric + a natural mordant, like salt, y listo, we had yellow shirts. We rinsed them with water until no more dye came out, like three times. Perfect!

Then we wanted to double test the fabric so we warmed up some water with soap, dipped the shirts in the water….and…sayyy whaaaaaaaat? The water and shirts immediately turned red!!!! We had no idea what had just happened. Magic!?!? : ) It brought us back to doing those experiments in science class.

After a quick research we found out the following

“Turmeric has a pigment known as xanthophylls, which lends the yellow color to it. It also has a pigment called as carotene, which is reddish orange in color. When turmeric comes in contact with detergent, it reacts with the fatty acids present in the detergent and hence the carotene pigment gets more active than the xanthophylls and turmeric turns red. When turmeric is combined with any base liquid like soap it turns red in color while when turmeric comes in contact with any substance like that of vinegar, that is acidic in nature, it turns yellow.”

We had no idea, so for those of you who have bought our amazing turmeric shirts I would say make sure you wash them by hand, separately, just in case of any bleeding.

On to future discoveries.

– Mushpa y Mensa

p.s. – Come check out these amazing turmeric shirts today at The Fulton Flea (located at 650 Fulton Street between Fort Greene Place and South Elliott Place (near the intersection of Lafayette Avenue) in Brooklyn, NY.). We will be there from noon to 8PM. The market is right next to BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) http://www.bam.org/, Brooklyn Botanical Gardens http://www.bbg.org/, the Brooklyn Public Library http://www.bklynpubliclibrary.org/, good food and many other amazing Brooklyn sites! Make it a great day.

Introducing Our White on Ocean Line

May 23, 2013Art, Clothes, Cuban, Ecuadorian, Etsy, Fashion, Gay, Homemade, Jewelry, Latina, Lesbian, Queer, Small Business, T-shirts, Woman Owned Business301 ECO-Series, alternative apparel, art, awesome shirt, Cara Reynolds, clay beads, cool shirt, eco-friendly, etsy, gay shirt, handmade, lesbian, lesbian shirt, Maria Emilia Borja, Matsui, Mushpa Y Mensa, necklace, organic, organic cotton shirt, plush animals, queer shirt, screen printing, t-shirtstdaait

We here at Mushpa y Mensa have been working hard to get new products out there for our people. Last week I decided to print all 10 of our designs using the white 301 ECO-Series by Matsui (which is an amazing, eco-friendly ink we use on all our shirts) on ocean colored scoop and crew organic cotton Alternative Apparel shirts.

White on Ocean Line — Working Hard in the Studio

You all wanted more white on ocean, well now you have it in every flavor!!!

Hit up our shop to order your very own organic, original, hand printed white on ocean fantastical shirt (or any of our other gorgeously designed shirts, jewelry, stuffed animals, etc). You’ll be helping two amazing ladies trying to make a difference while making a living doing what we love. That’s not so bad. :]

Much love to all!

– Mushpa