Tag Archives: love

Free 99¢ Shelf

Art, crafts, DIY, Environment, Etsy, Gay, Green, Homemade, How-To, Inspiration, Latina, Lesbian, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sometimes we drool over the furniture on the street. Ok, correction. I drool over the furniture on the street and Mushpa tries to convince me not to bring trash into our home, and be a bit more…what shall we say, selective?

When we have more space, we will be bringing in all sorts of furniture to re-vamp and re-furbish, and potentially sell in our shop as well! This goes back to our idea of making things “from scratch”. On our 100th Blog Post we tried to explain our approach to doing things from now on. If we have the tools to be able to make it, then why not try to do it ourselves? Here is a perfect example.

reburbished furniture DIY

This is one of the pieces we found a block down from our home. We decided that if it was still there when we came back from our walk, that we would take it in.

reburbished furniture DIY

We needed storage, and we got some for free! With a few left-over spray paint cans, we painted it and now it looks fantabulous on our studio!

diy refurbisehd shelf

Thank you Mushpa for this one!

: )

-Mensa

Free 99 Cents Shelf

Art, crafts, DIY, Environment, Etsy, Gay, Green, Homemade, How-To, Inspiration, Latina, Lesbian, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sometimes we drool over the furniture on the street. Ok, correction. I drool over the furniture on the street and Mushpa tries to convince me not to bring trash into our home, and be a bit more…what shall we say, selective?

When we have more space, we will be bringing in all sorts of furniture to re-vamp and re-furbish, and potentially sell in our shop as well! This goes back to our idea of making things “from scratch”. On our 100th Blog Post we tried to explain our approach to doing things from now on. If we have the tools to be able to make it, then why not try to do it ourselves? Here is a perfect example.

reburbished furniture DIY

This is one of the pieces we found a block down from our home. We decided that if it was still there when we came back from our walk, that we would take it in.

reburbished furniture DIY

We needed storage, and we got some for free! With a few left-over spray paint cans, we painted it and now it looks fantabulous on our studio!

diy refurbisehd shelf

Thank you Mushpa for this one!

: )

-Mensa

The 100th Post of La Mushpa y La Mensa

accessories, 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, Women, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Jefe Helping
Jefe Helping…

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).

Drinks on Me
Cocktails Anyone?

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!

The Bag
The Bag That Rocks

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

stevie_christine“When you grow up as a girl, the world tells you the things that you are supposed to be: emotional, loving, beautiful, wanted. And then when you are those things, the world tells you they are inferior: illogical, weak, vain, empty. The world teaches you that the way you exist in it is disgusting — you watch boys cringe backward in your dorm room when you talk about your period, blue water pretending to be blood in a maxi pad commercial. It is little things, and it is constant. In a food court in a mall, after you go to the gynecologist for the first time, you and your friend talk about how much it hurts, and over her shoulder you watch two boys your age turn to look at you and wrinkle their noses: the reality of your life is impolite to talk about. The world says that you don’t have a right to the space you occupy, any place with men in it is not yours, you and your body exist only as far as what men want to do with it. At fifteen, you find fifteen-year-old boys you have never met somehow believe you should bend your body to their will. At almost thirty, you find fifteen-year-old boys you have never met still somehow believe you should bend your body to their will. They are children. They are children.“

—Stevie Nicks

A little Stevie knowledge never hurt anyone.

— Mushpa

Flick This!

Clothes, crafts, Cuban, Ecuadorian, Etsy, Fashion, Jewelry, Latina, Lesbian, Photography, Queer, Stuffed Animal, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Ladybug
Ladybug Love

We here at Mushpa y Mensa had an Instagram (which is owned by Facebook), but decided like Facebook, it is a tantamount waste of time and a way for a large group of people to convince others that their lives are more exciting, interesting, happier than going out and making it true. Not only that, but people should be aware how Facebook makes most of their money is by selling your information. Not through ad clicks and charging people with business pages money to have their posts reach ALL their “Fans” and “Friends” as you may believe.  Listen, I want to live my life not spend hours stalking others’ make believe life or promoting my own better than reality life. Been there, done that and every time it left a bad taste in my mouth. Thanks to Mensa pushing us we have been Facebook free for almost a year now and I have yet to miss it. Not surprisingly, I accomplish much more without it, so to my friends who tell me things like, “You would have known I was out of town if you had a Facebook“. I say call me, email me, hangout with me as I am never going back!

Next, people are always asking us if we have a Facebook so they can “Like” the Mushpa y Mensa page or link back to us. When we answer no they seemed shocked like for sure we will never be a success without Facebook or it will be soooo much harder. I find that to be a misnomer. We have already had movie stars, a big time movie producer and a composer of modern day operas among multitudes of other amazing human beings love and buy our art in the last 8 months since opening. We believe in ourselves, our art and the idea that if you do the work and right thing the Universe will always reward you and thus far it is working. I have asked other people with businesses and Facebook pages how much business it has generated for them and the results are nil to nothing. That says more to me. Honestly, you can’t use something bad to achieve good, that’s just the way it is.

Let me stop and get to the real point of this blog entry. Maria Emilia and I want to be able to take pictures and post them somewhere instantly, link back to them in our blog posts and document our journey through photographs of the making of Mushpa y Mensa, without using Instagram, so how can we? Flickr!!! Yes, ladies and gentleman we have a Flickr account now full of our fantastical photos!!! :] There are photos of our amazingly unique organic tees, of the fleas, fairs and markets we’ve worked, photo shoots, crafting, us and whatever else our little hearts desire. Go look at it and tell us what you think? I am so excited!

Never forget in life there is always a workaround, so don’t get stuck.

Such Love

With so much love!!!

– Mushpa

Love is Love

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlVBg7_08n0]

I can’t change, nor do I want to. Love is love, strangers may judge, but family should stand by each other in times of struggle and change, not just for the times when life seems easy, but for those times when we need them most.

Label me as I do and as you label others. Just as we have pride in being a Latina, Black, Brown, Greek, Jew, left-handed can we not have pride in who we love. I am truly blessed to love who I love and trust me I am loved by the universe as well. I see it everyday.

My love keeps me warm.

I am free.

-Mushpa

Let’s Go On An Adventure

Activism, Cuban, Gay, Latina, Lesbian, Queer, , , , , , , , , , ,

never

I see so many unhappy people around me stuck at jobs they hate, to pay mortgages (or rent) on houses (or apartments) in towns (or cities) they hate, trapped by debt they hate, with spouses (or significant others) they hate (or aren’t who they thought they were) and kids they use as an excuse to why they can’t live the lives they desire. No thank you. I want adventure. I want to live in a society not fearful of taking a risk, one where people have faith and are strong even when it would seem so much easier to be weak. That my friends is a lie. Fear will fuck you if you let it, understand this. No matter what you think the risk is, no matter who tells you to give in, to be safe and take that $70K job don’t believe the hype. Stop and take a look at the person’s life telling you this, then gauge their happiness. I bet you that safety they chose at the end of the day, did not reward them with the life they dreamed of, not even close. If this was the case people would be a lot healthier and happier, not to mention a lot of shrinks would be out of business.

We need to help each other fight against this brainwashing that only rewards corporations with employees and consumers. I have fought my whole life not to give in on many levels and I still fight, because at the end of the day I choose to  live not survive. It can be lonely, yes, especially when the people you love fight against it and you, but don’t give up. Lead by example and others will always follow, I promise.

I love you world and only want the best for all my fellow earthlings…on the real.

Let’s go on an adventure together.

– Mushpa