All she wanted was to find a place to stretch her bones.
A place to lengthen her smiles
and spread her hair
a place where her legs could walk without cutting and bruising
a place unchained.
She was born out of ocean breath.
I reminded her; ‘Stop pouring so much of yourself into hearts that have no room for themselves
do not thin yourself, be vast.
You do not bring the ocean to a river.’
– Tapiwa Mugabe, You are Oceanic
Word.
-Mushpa
Truth.
Come see two women who roll like that @LIC Food and Flea today!!! We’ll be here till 6!
Check out our Kickstarter project!
– La Mushpa y la Mensa
In conjunction with “Care-About-Mama-Earth” week we are launching Mushpa y Mensa’s Magical Motor Machine Makeover (a.k.a. Our Super Cool Kickstarter Project)! Yes!
We will make this short and sweet as all the information you may want or need to know about Our Magical Motor Machine Makeover is here. You may also click on our 3 minutes and 33 second amazing docu-drama above to find out what we and this project are all about. :]
Mushpa y Mensa’s Magical Motor Machine Makeover is something cool, different, and amazing. It is a way to connect with people all over; a way to find, have and give hope to our fellow humans…and there is some fantabulous functional art to take with you as well!!! A win/win situation.
Go see!!!
With much love.
— Mushpa y Mensa (Cara Elaine and Maria Emilia)
This is it…here we go Mushpa.
-Mensa
February is Mushpa’s Birthday Month!
She has a wonderful tradition of celebrating not only one day, but other days too! It makes you feel extra special, and your birthday lasts not only a day, not only a weekend, but a whole month! I’ve tried to get very creative and have hand-crafted many of her little gifts. Stamps made out of wine corks, soul-mate bracelets, and even a home-made potpourri!
A couple of days ago, I decided to whip up a really easy, but super delicious body scrub using all natural ingredients for her. Good for the body, and good for the soul!
All you need is:
-a clean glass jar, fabric, rubber band and ribbon
– organic sugar of your choice. The coarser, I think the better.
-organic coconut oil
-peppermint oil (or any other minty oil of your choice)
-lavender and dried rose hips
Heat some water in a sauce pan and place the coconut oil jar in the water. This will quickly soften up the oil without the need of a microwave! Measure about 1/3 cup of coconut oil and place in a bowl. Slowly add the sugar, until it starts absorbing most of the oil. I say it will be about a 1 cup. If you pour too much sugar and it becomes dry, add more oil!
After mixing the sugar and coconut oil, add the peppermint oil essence. I used about 20 drops of oil. Start with a little less, and keep adding until you find the perfect balance.
Add the Lavender! I suggest about 1 to 2 tablespoons, and mix it all up.
After you have the perfect scrub, line the bottom of your glass jar with rose hips. This is a nice little detail, and it looks beautiful at the bottom of the jar! Once the scrub is in, the roses will also absorb the oil and you can use them as part of the scrub too.
After the layer of rose hips, I added a layer of the scrub and filled it half way. Then I added a layer of lavender, placing the dried lavender on the outer edges of the glass so you could see it better. Then add the second layer of your scrub, and once again, one more layer of lavender. I placed three rose buds at the top so when Mushpa opened it, it looked oh-so-very-nice!
Close the jar. Cut a round piece of fabric, place it on the lid and hold it down with a rubber band. Then add the ribbon….. perfect!
Happy Birthday Month Mi Mushpa!
❤❤❤
-Mensa
February is Mushpa’s Birthday Month!
She has a wonderful tradition of celebrating not only one day, but other days too! It makes you feel extra special, and your birthday lasts not only a day, not only a weekend, but a whole month! I’ve tried to get very creative and have hand-crafted many of her little gifts. Stamps made out of wine corks, soul-mate bracelets, and even a home-made potpourri!
A couple of days ago, I decided to whip up a really easy, but super delicious body scrub using all natural ingredients for her. Good for the body, and good for the soul!
All you need is:
-a clean glass jar, fabric, rubber band and ribbon
– organic sugar of your choice. The coarser, I think the better.
-organic coconut oil
-peppermint oil (or any other minty oil of your choice)
-lavender and dried rose hips
Heat some water in a sauce pan and place the coconut oil jar in the water. This will quickly soften up the oil without the need of a microwave! Measure about 1/3 cup of coconut oil and place in a bowl. Slowly add the sugar, until it starts absorbing most of the oil. I say it will be about a 1 cup. If you pour too much sugar and it becomes dry, add more oil!
After mixing the sugar and coconut oil, add the peppermint oil essence. I used about 20 drops of oil. Start with a little less, and keep adding until you find the perfect balance.
Add the Lavender! I suggest about 1 to 2 tablespoons, and mix it all up.
After you have the perfect scrub, line the bottom of your glass jar with rose hips. This is a nice little detail, and it looks beautiful at the bottom of the jar! Once the scrub is in, the roses will also absorb the oil and you can use them as part of the scrub too.
After the layer of rose hips, I added a layer of the scrub and filled it half way. Then I added a layer of lavender, placing the dried lavender on the outer edges of the glass so you could see it better. Then add the second layer of your scrub, and once again, one more layer of lavender. I placed three rose buds at the top so when Mushpa opened it, it looked oh-so-very-nice!
Close the jar. Cut a round piece of fabric, place it on the lid and hold it down with a rubber band. Then add the ribbon….. perfect!
Happy Birthday Month Mi Mushpa!
❤❤❤
-Mensa
TV, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways….
You are a perpetual distraction, a siren calling my name in my darkest hours. You lead me away from my destination whenever I ask it of you. I cannot recollect the last time you let me down.
I remember that sunny day in April 2008, I attempted to change my course by disconnecting from the satellite, but it wasn’t enough. I soon after discovered Netflix “Watch It Now”, Hulu, Wii, Play Station, Guitar Hero World Tour and a fafillion other ways to get my fix on. As long as I had the TV, no satellite…well, it meant nothing.
Today, I sold my love for a few bucks. Moment of silence please…
RIP TV.
– Mushpa
I’ve been friends with my sewing machine for a bit now, and we have grown closer over the past year. I have kept her near me and loved her very much, but one thing is that I have not been very good about covering her. One reason is because I have the old (ugly) plastic cover that it came with.
I got inspired and decided to make her a little outfit using refurbished material and gifted fabric! Now my sewing machine is not so cold, wont get so much dust, and actually looks pretty!
Tip: I used the old plastic cover to draft and cut out the pattern pieces to make the sewing machine cover. You don’t need a pattern as long as you have the old cover. If you are not afraid to go for it, you can just measure the height and width of your machine and make five rectangles to sew together!
For this project, I also used as a guide this sewing book that I like very much, the Sew Everything Workshop: The Complete Step-by-Step Beginner’s Guide. It is written by Diana Rupp, and it is fabulous for people getting into the sewing world. It comes with patterns, instructions and lots of practical information about different fabrics and tips as well as historical facts and fun sewing projects.
This book was part of a gift from Mushpa, who not only included the book, but a class to sew a “Naughty Secretary Skirt” with Ms. Diana Rupp herself! If you live in NYC and want to practice some guided sewing, check out the Make Workshop for amazing classes of all types!
Tip: Get a sewing book. There are TONS out there. I have a couple that I use as reference all the time. I think it’s helpful for little details, how-to and random information. Any time I get stuck in a project, or need inspiration, I look at them. Also, if you can, take a sewing class. It really helps with understanding the process as a whole, and you get to hang with other sewing aficionados!
I also got inspired and made some new yoga pants as well using this book! With some risky adjustments to the pattern, I had just enough scrap fabric to make some new pants by refurbishing old curtains! Sound of Music anyone?
Fortunately the adjustments that I made to the pattern were fine, and I was able to cut the pieces just right!I thought the fabric would be OK to wear these pants out in public, but they ended up looking too pajama-ish! That’s OK though, because now I have some super fancy pajama pants!
Tip of the Universe: If you have almost enough fabric, but not quite enough, try hoping for the best when doing pattern adjustments! I literally visualized and prayed to the universe that the adjustments I made to the pattern would work… With a little faith, anything is possible!
Finally, the last project for the house I sewed was our darling ironing board. The old cover was gross and old… This was a very easy project though. I pretty much traced a pattern around the ironing board and left a good 4 inches or so of seam allowance.
Then I folded the seam about an inch and sewed it down in order to leave a space for a cord to run through the seam, and left an inch wide opening to be able to pass the cord through. After attaching safety pins to the cord, I pushed the cord through the seam and covered the ironing board. Pull tight and knot it at the end! Not so bad huh?!
Updating our home, one sewing project at a time!
Much love,
-Mensa
