Tag Archives: DAS

Happy Labor Day

Women Labor DayHappy Labor Day to all! For those who don’t know what Labor Day is all about, here is the skinny. Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement (mostly promoted by the Central Labor Union and the Knights of Labor in NYC). Groover Cleaveland made it official in 1887. Labor Day is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

Women Trade UnionNow on to some interesting Labor Day trivia!

  • To take advantage of large numbers of potential customers free to shop, Labor Day has become an important sale weekend for many retailers in the United States. Some buyers retailers claim it is one of the largest sale dates of the year, second only to the Christmas season’s Black Friday. Ironically, because of the importance of the sale weekend, some of those who are employed in the retail sector not only work on Labor Day, but work longer hours. More Americans work in the retail industry than any other, with retail employment making up 24% of all jobs in the United States. As of 2012, only 3% of those employed in the retail sector were members of a labor union.
  • Women were among the earliest factory workers in the mill and textile industries and also among the earliest to organize.
  • 21.3% of women work in service occupations, some of which (domestic work, for example) are not covered by many of the employee protections we celebrate on Labor Day.  This lack of coverage dates back to 1938 when Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act based on a political compromise by which it excluded domestic and agricultural workers, who were primarily African-American. Today, high rates of Hispanic women work in the service sector (33.2%).
  • In high society, Labor Day is (or was) considered the last day of the year when it is fashionable to wear white or seersucker.

We here at Mushpa y Mensa strive to contribute to the strength, prosperity and well being of our country, world and universe in everything we do. From the meaning we put into our art, to all the people we come in contact with at amazing events where we end up and through our online presence. We are blessed to have this job that pushes us to learn so many things from others and hopefully we give back as much to them.

Here is something tangible we can give back today, on the 2nd largest sale date of the year! ;] A free shipping promotion code MAYA007!!! This will get you out of shipping charges on any item(s) at our Etsy Shop. Exciting!!! 😀 Click below to get to our shop and check out our original designs on organic cotton tees, tanks and tops, plush pets with felt made from recycling plastic bottles and stuffed with real lavender, eco-jewelry, coffee and tea cozies made from unique, refurbished fabric amongst tons of other cool stuff. Spread the word!

free shipping codeWe hope everyone has a chill Labor Day and you are doing whatever it is you want to do today and everyday.

– Mushpa y Mensa

We Got Into the Leaf Festival

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

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.

The Spring Flea @BAC

BAC_1602-spring flea poster-3Guess 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

Photos of Our Peeps

Mushpa y Mensa Peeps

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

The Market NYC Here We Come!

Mama EarthWe would love to share with you this fantabulous Mushpa y Mensa Earth Day extravaganza!!! It is happening this very weekend!!! What? Yes!

La Mushpa y La Mensa will be selling wares in the flesh at The Market NYC (159 Bleecker Street) all weekend long (Friday – April 19th 12pm-9pm,  Sat – April 20th 11am-9pm, and  Sun – April 21st 12pm-8pm).

Please, if you live in the city or are visiting, make sure to stop by and show us some love. We are unveiling our much awaited 100% organic cotton shirt designs (“Put a Bird on It” designed by Mushpa and “Mama Earth” by Mensa). These shirts are printed using water-based eco-friendly inks (301 ECO-Series by Matsui), free of PVC, phthalate, heavy metals, azo compounds, nonylphenol and formaldehyde. We clean up after ourselves using mostly water. When necessary, we may use a citrus and soy based eco-cleaner from Chemical Consultants Incorporated. We also do everything by hand from the design, to printing transparencies, exposing the screens and lastly, printing them on the shirts.

Put a Bird on ItIt’s exhausting, but we are making art!

-La Mushpa

p.s. – We also have an official web url, www.mushpamensa.com. So official, check it out!

Supa Fly and Freshly Made: Clay Earrings

Just finished!

Do you like these crazy cool hoop and spike set of earrings?

hoop spiked fabulous earrings

These re-vamped earrings are made from refurbished materials and 100% hand-made clay beads.

beautiful clay bead handmade earrings

You can find them at our Etsy store! : )

spiked clay bead earrings

-Mensa

A Little Bit of Self Promotion Never Hurt Anyone

Mushpa y Mensa

We write a bunch of blog entries about this and that, but I want to focus a bit on our baby Mushpa y Mensa today. I am going to send out fantastically positive energy to everyone to want what we have to offer.

Listen, I want to make it, not just for us realize, but for all the other artists, inventors and nerds who desire their freedom from a job they’ve never really loved. For all those who want to believe that it is possible to be happy in what you do. I want us to be that example where people say, “See anyone can make it if they do the work and believe.” Seriously, that is all anyone needs to do and we will prove it!

Here is my shameless self promotion below.

Mushpa y Mensa Etsy Store –  http://www.etsy.com/shop/MushpaYMensa
Mushpa y Mensa Blog – http://mushpamensa.wordpress.com/
Mushpa y Mensa Twitter – https://twitter.com/mushpamensa
Mushpa y Mensa Pinterest – http://pinterest.com/musphamensa/mushpa-y-mensa-we-are-two-crafty-chics/

Go check out our sites and buy one thing, maybe an amazing tablet case, or plush sweet pigs who think they are elephants and aliens who have no name, and there is even a gorgeous handmade, clay necklace!!!

Please, do us a solid and send an email to all your friends, family, enemies we don’t care who, just do it. It will take two seconds and you will be helping two people who in turn will help millions. You help us and the Universe will help you. I promise!!!!

Until next time…

-Mushpa

Mushpa y Mensa Etsy Store

Handmade Clay Bead Necklace

Hey, so we started our Etsy store today!!! What, what? It’s called Muspha y Mensa, obviously… Come check it out here, http://www.etsy.com/shop/MushpaYMensa. Thus far we are selling this gorgeous terracotta clay handmade bead necklace designed and made by Maria Emilia (Mensa).

Each necklace is as unique as it is beautiful. I said it!

– Mushpa