We got into the Leaf Festival. I was unaware of how much I was pulling away from faith, mysticism and the Truth until I watched this video. I have been worrying about bills, money, and bullshit and forgetting about miracles, beauty and truth. Logistics are a lie. I am blessed and amazing and God is good. I’ve got nothing to worry about.
Everything is better than okay. I got into the Leaf Festival and have nothing to fear but fear itself.
:]
-Mushpa
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.
Guess where we are going to be this weekend… That’s right the Spring Flea at The Brooklyn Arts Center! :]
Renowned as the “ultimate vintage flea” and attended by more than 1,500 shoppers and dozens of vintage vendors from around the region, The Spring Flea is a three-day event that will again be the go-to shopping experience of the season—with a wide array of vintage, retro, and up cycled treasures—and tons of fun, with Wilmington’s finest food trucks feeding the crowds, a coffee shop in the courtyard, and the BAC cash bar serving liquid refreshments.
See you there.
-Mushpa y Mensa
 |
 Hello Super Mushpa y Mensa Fans! We know it has been killing you waiting for our next post. Well here it is Maya’s Makeover Zine!!! We will not go on and on about our amazing zine as it is pretty self explanatory, but here is what Maya’s zine includes:
All this in a fantastical and printable PDF. Want some more Mushpa y Mensa? Check out www.mushpamensa.com With much love, Mushpa y Mensa |
Fight real injustice not distractions from the truth. Mass media is playing you. Think beyond the herd.
Fly.
Life outside our window in the early morning.
Everyday is Saturday in our world. :]
– Mushpa y Mensa
Hello To All of Our People!
We here at Mushpa y Mensa wanted to send out a Fall 2014 update about what’s going on with Mushpa y Mensa’s Magical Motor Machine Makeover! We wanted to let you all know where your gracious support has taken us thus far.
With the help of Alberto Borja, Mensa’s magician electrician father, we set up the amazing solar powered system to power all the electrical things Maya, our mobile art truck, will need. We installed a 150 watt solar panel on the roof of the truck, hooked it up in a series to two 6 volt golf cart batteries, and did some serious wiring. We did this so we could set up track lights, LED lights, a fan, plus working outlets to charge our laptops and basically work off the grid with the help of the sun! It’s pretty amazing.
We have become best friends with our jigsaw, circular saw, wire cuter and drill. We cut plywood not only for the electrical set up, but also to put up new walls, and to create different types of storage boxes! We have screwed in, nailed, spackled, siliconed, sanded, painted, painted again, wallpapered and distressed many a thing inside our truck. Our old dashboard got a fresh coat of robotic silver paint, and we built a curvy, new, purple dashboard panel with cup holders!
Soon to come:
– installation of floor
– birch poles to hang our shirts from!
– a million little touches
We will be done on November 25th when we get our marmoleum flooring installed. We can’t wait! Just in time to hit up all the Holiday Markets!!! :]
Stay tuned!
Much love,
Mushpa y Mensa aka Cara and Maria Emilia
What, Mushpa y Mensa has a new section on their site featuring their amazingly gorgeous super fans sporting their art? YES…yes, we do! You need to go check it out here, www.mushpaymensa.com/photos-of-our-peeps/.
If you too have a photo of you in an original, organic cotton shirt, unique handmade jewelry, or your lavender stuffed plush pets made out of recycled plastic bottle felt doing something, or whatever art you may have gotten from us here at Mushpa y Mensa, send it in. We will put you up on Mushpa y Mensa’s “Photos of Our Peeps” page. Just email the photos to info[at]mushpamensa[dot]com and we’ll do the rest.
Much love,
– Mushpa y Mensa
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
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
Summer is here and we at Mushpa y Mensa were ready to get out into the sun. We decided to give Fulton Flea a try and loved it. Keith the market manager was cool, well cool sounds so what you’d say. Let me try again, Keith didn’t suck. That is even better than cool. :] The other vendors, shout out to Harry and Queenie, were fantabulous as well! The customers were real and engaging, but it’s Fort Greene Brooklyn we’d expect no less.
It’s every Saturday at 650 Fulton Street between Fort Greene Place and South Elliott Place (near the intersection of Lafayette Avenue) in Brooklyn from 10-6PMish sometimes later. We are going to do it again next Saturday, so stop by and see us.
Alright, we have to run to the Astoria Market in Queens to sell our art in the garden at Bohemian Hall (aka an outdoor beer garden) from 1-6PM. Everyone should come down and grab a beer and some Mushpa y Mensa organic, original, hand printed, fantastical t-shirts, jewelry, art, stuffed animals and more in the sun!!!
– Mushpa