Category Archives: tattoo

Mushpa y Mensa Super Summer Update

Hello Mushpa y Mensa Super Fans!

Yes, you see right, it’s Mushpa y Mensa’s Super Summer update, after a few months of silence. We are happy to say that in the last three months, Mushpa y Mensa have begun their “Gypsy Market Life”. Already, on this journey, we have met quite a few amazing people, like the folks at Seaglass Salvage Market, Brooklyn Arts Center, Beacon House Inn, and Satellite Lounge to name a few. We have also danced and tasted many sweet wines at the Duplin Winery’s Main Squeeze Music and Wine Festival, as well as met dozens of new, fun people at the annual Azalea and Strawberry Festivals in North Carolina. ;] We even partnered up with Wilmington’s Earth Day Alliance and enjoyed a wonderful Earth Day Celebration at Hugh MaCrae Park.

It’s been surreal so far.

It’s amazing what faith, love, encouragement, and a little help from our friends can do. In terms of our little cottage industry, we are, as you say, busting a hump. We are constantly checking ourselves on how we can make things better from our art, to our business, to our life.

We have actually just updated the “Photos of Our Peeps” page on Mushpa y Mensa’s site. We added a photo uploading tool, so you can upload pictures of you in our organic tees, wearing our amazing jewelry, hugging our lavender filled plush pets, or even just keeping your hands cool with one of our coffee cozies. :]

And in terms of our Art? Well we keep on bringing to life tons of ideas in our head. For example, we recently created 3.5 new shirt designs. A cool Octopus Olivia with an Anchor Tattoo on her forehead,as well as R6: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Replenish, Reflect, Reimagine inspired by Earth Day.

We also have new organic Pima cotton relaxed fit tops that are flying out of the truck. Here is an example of the Pima tops with one of our new designs, Argema Mittrei, a female moth. Lastly, we spruced up Robot Girl and added a cute heart. All these designs we print for the ladies, the gents, and of course the smallest people around.

Mushpa y Mensa have also been focusing on custom shirts that have been selling off Maya so fast we don’t even have time to list them on our Etsy shop!

Spread the art, spread the love.

A few questions answered…

Where can I find the Art Truck?

Follow us on Twitter @mushpamensa. We are constantly posting when and where we will be. There is also an events page on our site, www.mushpaymensa.com/events we keep updated, but Twitter is best for the most up to date information.

We are doing some art shows, markets and fleas, but are hunting to find good spots to park around town. We are partnering up with cool people like the folks at the Beacon House Inn on Carolina Beach and Satellite Bar and Lounge in Wilmington.

And for all the natives and people in the know, since we are new in town, feel free to hit us up at info@mushpamensa.com or our contact page with any ideas where to park, festivals to do or whether you’d like us to rock a party or event with you!

Are you going on the road anytime soon?

We want to explore the grounds of NC and the surrounding area, so we will keep the max to weekend trips. But worry not, we will definitely be making it into the mid-west and west-coast! Maybe even an occasional trip to NYC sooner than you think!

If you have any questions about anything, make sure to ask! We love to hear from you all.

Until the next super exciting Mushpa y Mensa’s and Maya, Magical Mobile Art Machine update we say good day!

With lots of love,

               Cara and Maria Emilia

                                                             a.k.a.

Art Session at Dare Devil Tattoo

 

 

So remember how Mushpa is getting a tattoo? Well here is the first session!

We went to Dare Devil Tattoo, where Michelle Myles took the original design and adapted it to make it fit around the already tattooed fairy.

The frame was made smaller, and it fits perfectly in her arm!

tattoo rococo frame with fairy

Ouch! Two hours of a needle piercing through your skin, all while having a casual conversation about old movies and what not.

And there she is all happy and bandaged up!

tattoo rococo frame with fairy

After cleaning it up, the close ups look nice! So far the outline is done, and it is so exciting to finally see this actually on skin rather than paper!

tattoo rococo frame with fairy

It is still a little red, so she has to give it some time to heal up enough to begin the shading…

tattoo rococo frame with fairytattoo rococo frame with fairy

I cant wait to see it finished! In a couple of weeks she will have the final piece all done!

Sweeeeet!!!

: )

-Mensa

Tea Tree Oil: Magic Potion or Poison?

tea tree oil

So the other day we noticed that we have in our home tea-tree oil infused goodies. Our shampoo, our conditioner and we use tea tree oil for unwanted, unhappy pimples. And it really does work! I had heard this little essential oil had many purposes, but who would have known it was crazy useful for everything! From pimples, to cleaning to Woohoo! Everything… Maybe I should ditch everything in my medicine cabinet and buy a lifetime supply of tea-tree oil!

So where does it come from? Australia. From the plant Melaleuca alternifolia.

tea tree oil

What can it be used for? A MILLION THINGS!

  • Analgesic
  • Antibacterial
  • Antifungal
  • Anti-infectious
  • Anti-inflammatory
  • Antioxidant
  • Antiparasitic
  • Antiseptic
  • Antiviral
  • Decongestant
  • Digestive
  • Expectorant
  • Immune stimulant
  • Insecticidal
  • Neurotonic
  • Stimulant
  • Tissue regenerative

tea tree oil

Got Acne? dilute with water and use for an overall treatment, or dab a very small amount on acne breakouts.

Got Allergies? You can massage it into the chest, abdomen or “the reflex points of the feet”

Stinky Feet? A couple of drops and soak your feet in, or massage directly.

Canker soar? Apply a dab!

Clean Freak? Add a couple of drops  to your home-made everyday cleaner.

Stuffed nose and congestion? Boil some water and inhale steam infused with some oil. Minty smell will clear you up!

Cuts, Scrapes or Burns? Disinfect it with a slight diluted solution and cleanse infected areas with a one drop to one cup of water mixture.

Getting Pierced or a Tattoo? Use it undiluted to avoid infections.

Anything else? Yes! Also vaginal infections, warts, wounds, nail infections, dandruff sunburns and rashes!

BUT…I ran into this article that says that tea-tree oil might be potentially toxic for your cats and its bad bad bad…so I decided to look into it a bit more.

poison

Yes, if you swallow and ingest a slight amount of this oil, it could harm you.  The National Capital Poison Center says they get twice as many calls regarding tea-tree oil poisoning than any other oil. Yet, they are not specific about their statistics so its hard to compare.

There are two statements that they make that I think are significant and should be taken as precaution when using this mighty oil.

1.

“Tea tree oil and pets: Veterinary toxicologists have reported that large amounts of tea tree oil applied to the skin of cats and dogs caused poisoning. Symptoms have included muscle tremors, weakness, difficulty in walking, low body temperature, and excessive salivation. With pets, as with people, following label instructions is essential.”

2.

“Non-medicinal uses: …  “natural” does not necessarily mean “non-toxic” or “non-poisonous”; tea tree oil is irritating to some people and is poisonous to swallow….There is some scientific evidence that tea tree oil can be effective for certain skin conditions. It is poisonous if swallowed and so should not be used in or around the mouth at all.”

The second point should be taken with more consideration because when I did my research I ran into information regarding its use as a mouthwash, canker sore, cold sore and cavity prevention oil. Many people have used it around and within the mouth and promote such uses, so I don’t think that the likelihood that you will turn up dead will be high….BUT I would use it with precaution if you are allergic to any other oils, if you are pregnant and if you have other conditions which you already need to take extra care for.

So is it a super oil with multiple amazing uses? I’d say so!

Am I going to party hard with my cat and take shots like it’s peppermint schnapps?  Probably not….

fashionable cat

Does it smell very very good and is better than buying fifteen different products to cure many things? YES!

If you would like, you can check out some sources below to get more descriptive and detailed uses for this mighty essential oil as well as people’s concern with it.

Sustainable Baby Steps, Medicine Net, General Info, Toxic to Cats

What!? What!?

-Mensa

 

DIY Body Art

Things are done better, with more love, and more rewards if you at least try to do them yourself (as opposed to  having something pre-made). So why not design your own tattoo?!

So for Mushpa’s birthday, one of the things she asked was to design something to compliment the tattoo she already has.

some beginnings

Here are a couple of sketches of the soon-to-be-tattoo!IMG_6876

Why not draw something that only you imagine in your head? It is a fun process, and you get to have more of a say in every detail possible, and it is only yours!

(Ps. This sketch has already changed a bit since this post!)
(Ps. This sketch has already changed a bit since this post!)

Want some art in your body? Do it yourself! (Starting at least with the design part of it all! We can move to tattooing later…)

: D

Keep on making,

-Mensa