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The Eco Trio: Tagua, Pambil, and Acai Jewelry

21 Tuesday Feb 2017

Posted by La Mensa in accessories, Art, crafts, DIY, Ecuadorian, Environment, Etsy, Fashion, Green, Latina, Love, Magic, Organic, Small Business, Woman Owned Business, Women

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acai, amazon, antioxidant berries, aRT tRUCK, Cara Reynolds, cruelty free, eco art, eco ivory, eco jewlery, eco-friendly, Ecuador, handmade, heart of palm, iriartea deltoidea, Latin America, Maria Emilia Borja, Mensa, Mushpa, Mushpa Y Mensa, organic, palm trees, pambil, phytelephas, rainforest, seed jelwery, seeds, South America, sustainable, tagua, vegetable ivory

tassel-pambil-acai-necklace-model-600x600

Many of the pieces that are made here at Mushpa + Mensa, use little, medium and larger seeds from the amazon rain-forest, collected specifically from Ecuador.

As a native Ecuadorian, I am able to travel back to my childhood country, bring my lady with me, and browse though many of the outdoor markets that sell these wonderful seeds, which we then take and make our eco-jewelry from.

So what are the three seeds?

Tagua:

The largest of all the seeds is tagua, although in other Latin American countries it can be referred to as vegetable ivory, palm ivory, marfim-vegetal, corozo, or jarina, the seeds all still derive from the same genus of palms: Phytelephas. There as six known species of this palm that thrive from Panama, to Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil and Peru.

tagua-fruit

Often it is referred to as “eco-ivory” because it has the same characteristics of elephant ivory, as it can be carved very easily as well as dyed with different colors, and it is hard and unbreakable and can be polished beautifully.

tagua-2

The female palm is the one that bears the fruit, which falls from the trees and  inside it holds usually 4 individual nuts. The immature fruit is usually sweet and soft, while the mature fruit has transformed into a harder that wood nut covered in a brown shell, which can later be used for multiple projects, like our tagua necklaces!

Pambil:

red-pambil

The second seed we often use is called pambil, and it is another palm from the Ecuadorian rain forest. This palm tree known scientifically as  Iriartea deltoidea,  which can grow between 20-35 meters tall and can be “easily recognized by the prominent bulge in the center of its trunk, and the stilt roots, which form a dense cone up to 1 m in diameter at the base.” It is also surrounded by a brown shell covering that can be removed and either left naturally as a cream color, or can be dyed as well.

Acai:

pambil

This is the smallest of the seeds we use. It is pronounced ah-s-ah-ee, and it is found in the tropical Amazon rain forest. It has recently been popularized in the United States as a super food for its rich antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, and you can find it in juices, body products and supplements.

It has also been used by indigenous tribes for centuries as one of their most important sources of daily nutrition, and has been cultivated also for building materials and artisan crafts using its palm leaves and seeds. It also mostly cultivated as a source for hearts of palm! Delicious.

But here at the Mushpa + Mensa studio, we use it as the third in the trio of our sustainable seed collection.

tagua-pambil-necklace

All of these seeds are free from petroleum based products like many conventional beads, and free from animal cruelty. They are harvested by local communities as a source of income, and their popularization in recent years has allowed for many of these communities to build themselves up from the sustainable sources that the tropical rain-forests of Ecuador provides.

Now that you have a better knowledge of our trio of seeds, take a look at our shop and see what inspires you!

-Mensa

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90 Day Challenge!

08 Monday Feb 2016

Posted by La Mensa in Art, Biking, Body Image, DIY, healthy, Inspiration, Love, Love is Love, Magic, Women

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90 day challenge, aRT tRUCK, habits, Love yourself, Mushpa+Mensa, P90X, this is for your soul, valentines day challenge, workout goal, Yoga

Hey all!

So February has started as a cold month with its wet and dreariness. But we gotta hit it back with some sunshine and love.  In honor of love month, how about a

LOVE YOURSELF 90 Day Challenge!

That’s right. If you read this. You have been served…the challenge. Now you have to do it. Pass it along to 5 friends for good luck…or else….No for real though. No chain letter non-sense, but if you think about it. What do you have to lose?

PicsArt_1454982152683

So this is what you have to do:

 

1. Choose a physical activity (yoga, weights, dance, bicycle)
I like yoga. It gives me time to explore movement so my body feels its proper functions, cardio so I get my heart pumping blood, and also a space to get in touch with the universe and my soul as a whole. + Meditation. A winner in my book.
Biking is also fun. It’s dual purpose of functionality as a mode of transportation, and a great form of exercise is a five star right there. If you don’t need to carry too many groceries, then take the two-wheeler for a ride. Post office, bank, pharmacy. Two in one!
And the good old fashion Walking Sport. 30 minutes a day. 10,000 steps. The minimum to feel the best.
PicsArt_1454981610023
2. Create a space for it!– Fill your space with inspiration. Nothing fancy.
Get a good playlist going. Explore a new artist for an hour. Anything. Your choice.
I have a little space in the window still where I put candles, stones, palo santo, and any other inspirational objects in front my yoga mat and block. It’s a dedicated space, and it won’t let me ignore it.
For Mushpa’s birthday month, I re-organized and temporarily transformed our “storage-cat-empty” room into a work-out sweat room for her too! A little paint, and some quotes. Boom!  It was really a spur of the moment makeover to a room with much needed renovations in the future. For now it is perfect for the next 3 month challenge.
PicsArt_1454982248292
3. Look for videos: We have found some really cool 90 day challenge videos online of different workouts. A 90 Day Yoga Fix with this cool cat Leasley. Very chill. She’s challenging but not outrageous. Or you can go all the way with P90X series that Mushpa will soon progress into. Heck yes!

Now….JUST DO IT!

Join Mushpa+Mensa on this Love Yourself Challenge!
Good luck
-Mensa

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Before and After

23 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by La Mushpa in Art, Gay, How-To, Inspiration, Kickstarter, Lesbian, Photography, Queer, Small Business, Social Media, Twitter, Woman Owned Business, Women

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art, aRT tRUCK, Art Truck Girls, artist, box truck makeover, Cara Reynolds, gay, Happiness, ice cream truck, kickstarter, lesbian, love, Makeover, Maria Emilia Borja, Mensa, mOBILE aRT tRUCK, mOBILE rETAIL, Mushpa, Mushpa Y Mensa, Mushpa y Mensa's Magical Motor Machine, queer, Truck makeover, twitter

What, you want a sneak peek of Maya our Mobile Art Shop??? Okay!

Maya Before

Before

mAYA aFTERAfter!

– Mushpa

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