Suwannee Spring Reunion

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artisans, Awesome Event, camping, Cara Reynolds, clothes, DONNA THE BUFFALO, eco-friendly, fashion, Florida, Food Trucks, Habanero Honeys, http://annabellelyn.com/, Jon Stickley Trio, Larry Keel Experience, Live Oak, Maria Emilia Borja, Mushpa Y Mensa, music festival, on my way home, organic, Rice Dream, Rice Dream Jon Stickley Trio, Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park and Campground, Suwannee Spring Reunion, suwanneespringreunion.com, Swing That Thing, t shirt, t shirt designs, The Adventures of Annabelle Lyn, the mammals

A beloved tradition is reborn as the picturesque grounds of the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park play host to a new take on a classic gathering with the 2nd Annual Suwannee Spring Reunion at the end of March. For decades the onset of Spring meant gathering at the park for a weekend of fun, family, Bluegrass and string music. The intial Line-Up included artist with storied histories of epic Suwannee performances like Donna the Buffalo, Peter Rowan, Jeff Mosier and many, many more…. Matching the history on the stage, long time park hosts, Randy and Beth Judy are partnering with the Spirit of the Suwannee to make sure that every piece needed to make an epic weekend of music and fun is in place and ready to write the new entries for this new legend.

Once again the beloved tree lined amphitheater is home to early morning sing-a-longs and night time musical pyrotechnics from the park’s stellar cast of alumni. Placing a strong emphasis on embracing on the traditions that made the park a national treasure, there will be a wide array of arts & crafts, food that ranges from healthy to decadent and of course the grandeur of the park itself. It’s a place where kids of all ages can remember why they fell in love with the magic mixture of sights, sounds and sensations that constitutes a weekend of paradise that is the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park.

For four days in March, you can slip your shoes off and dance under the bright blue vistas and star studded skies. Wander the endless trails along the Suwannee River, tell stories around the crackling campfire or simply lie back and watch the Spanish moss that drapes the sheltering Live Oaks that sway in the breeze. Dance the days way at the Stages and wile away the night hours around the “Picking Parties” that spring up along into the dawn’s early light. There are no wrong choices when you arrive at your home and the place where live music lives for the founding of a new tradition, built on the love of the past, the Suwannee Spring Reunion.

Mushpa + Mensa can’t wait to see you all there!!!

Here are some of the artists playing this weekend!

The Adventures of Annabelle Lyn

 

 

 

 

Donna the Buffalo

 

 

 

Larry Keel Experience

 

 

Jon Stickley Trio

 

The Mammals

 

 

 

 

 

Plus other awesome peeps.

It is going to be such an amazing experience!

– Mushpa + Mensa

We’re Off Again

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African, Alice Merton, and a Children's Universe tent, Appalachian, art, Art Market, artisan market, artisans, artist, arts, Arts & Live Music, arts and crafts, Awesome Event, Blue Ridge Mountains, Blue Ridge Parkway, bluegrass, Cajun, Cara Reynolds, Children's Universe tent, clay beads, clothes, compost, craft market, crafts, dance workshops, eco fi felt, eco-friendly, face painting, fashion, felt, Floyd, Floyd Festival, FloydFest, folk, freedom, Games and Activities, handcraft vendors, handmade, Happiness, healthy living products, homemade, jewlery, kids activities, lesbian, local, local arts and crafts, local craftsmen, love, Maria Emilia Borja, morning yoga lessons, Mushpa + Mensa, Mushpa Y Mensa, music festival, No Roots, North Carolina, or Zydeco, organic, organic cotton, peace, plush animals, poetry readings, queer, reggae, rock, screen printing, soaps, story telling, t shirt designs, t-shirts, upcycled pillows, Virginia, woodworking, world music, Yiddish, Yoga, Zydeco

Our home has never been on the ground.

We are off to the next adventure tomorrow.

We’ve got no roots!

– Mushpa

Happy Labor Day

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1887, alternative apparel, art, artist, beauty, Cara Reynolds, Central Labor Union, clay bead necklace, coffee cozies, DAS, Detroit, eco-friendly, eco-jewelry, EcoFi felt, etsy, Fair Labor Standards Act, fashion, felt, gay, Groover Cleaveland, handmade, Happiness, home-made, homemade, inspiration, jewlery, Knights of Labor, Labor Day, Labor Day 2015, Labor Day Women, lavender, lesbian, Maria Emilia Borja, Mensa, Michigan, Mushpa, Mushpa Y Mensa, Mushpa y Mensa Free Shipping code, necklace, NYC, organic, organic cotton tees, plush animals, plush pets, promotion code, queer, recycled, recycling plastic bottles, refurbished fabric, screen printing, stuffed aimals, t shirt designs, t-shirts, tablet case, tanks, tea cozies, tops, toys, unique, Women in Labor Day, Women workers

Happy 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.

Now 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!

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

– Mushpa y Mensa

Mushpa y Mensa Super Summer Update

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art, artist, beauty, Cara Reynolds, clay bead necklace, clay beads, clothes, crafts, DAS, diy, eco-friendly, etsy, fashion, felt, gay, handmade, Happiness, home-made, homemade, inspiration, jewlery, kickstarter, lesbian, love, Maria Emilia Borja, Mensa, Mushpa, Mushpa Y Mensa, necklace, organic, plush animals, queer, quote, recycled, screen printing, stuffed aimals, stuffed animal, t shirt designs, t-shirts, tablet case, toys, yarn

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.

Maya’s Magical Zine

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2004 Ford Super Duty E350 Step Van, art, artist, box truck, Cara Reynolds, crafts, diy, eco-friendly, etsy, fashion, gay, handmade, Happiness, home-made, homemade, inspiration, jewlery, kickstarter, lesbian, love, Maria Emilia Borja, Maya the Truck, Mensa, Mushpa, Mushpa Y Mensa, organic, plush animals, queer, quote, recycled, renovation of step van, screen printing, t shirt designs, women dyi, Women DYIers, women owned business

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:   Our truck’s full makeover archive with before & after pictures of the project. Mushpa y Mensa DIY tips a.k.a. our gained knowledge we give unto you! How-to everyday eco-tips Delicious food recipes Plus Mushpa y Mensa’s greatest hits and inspirational thoughts from our blog, “La Casa“! 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 (a.k.a. Cara Elaine and Maria Emilia)

Hester Street Fair Here We Come

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art, artist, Cara Reynolds, eco-friendly, fashion, gay, handmade, Happiness, Hester Street Fair, home-made, homemade, jewlery, lesbian, love, lower east side, Maria Emilia Borja, Mensa, Mushpa, Mushpa Y Mensa, necklace, New York City, organic, plush animals, queer, recycled, screen printing, Street Fair, stuffed aimals, stuffed animal, t shirt designs, t-shirts

If you are in the New York area and want to check out our art in person you may!!! Good times!

Where exactly, Hester Street Fair, located in the heart of the Lower East Side and housed on the historic grounds of New York City’s largest pushcart market at the turn of the century, the Hester Street Fair pays homage to those roots by bringing together a collection of NYC’s best vendors in a bustling outdoor marketplace.  They curate the finest artisanal food, vintage clothing, jewelry, crafts, home goods and much more.  ​

Corner of Hester and Essex, take the F J M Z to Delancey F to East Broadway!

See you there.

– Mushpa y Mensa

Photos of Our Peeps

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art, artist, Cara Reynolds, clay bead necklace, clay beads, crafts, DAS, eco-friendly, etsy, fashion, felt, gay, handmade, Happiness, home-made, homemade, jewlery, lesbian, love, Maria Emilia Borja, Mensa, Mushpa, Mushpa Y Mensa, necklace, organic, organic cotton t shirt, photography, photos, plush animals, queer, recycled, screen printing, stuffed aimals, stuffed animal, t shirt designs, t-shirts

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 Final Stretch!

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Cara Reynolds, eco-friendly, fashion, felt, Final Countdown Kickstarter, gay, Happiness, homemade, kickstarter, kickstarter stretch goal, lesbian, Maria Emilia Borja, Mensa, Mushpa, Mushpa Y Mensa, Mushpa y Mensa Kickstarter, organic, plush animals, queer, t shirt designs, t-shirts

We all did it people!!! We made our goal at 7:30AM this morning. Thank you, Thank you and did we mention Thank You to all that pledged, sent their good energy and basically believed in us.  It has been a long journey and we are glad you took it with us.

For all you that thought you missed your opportunity, you still have a chance to pledge. Whew… We are literally HOURS away from the end of Mushpa y Mensa’s “Box Truck into an Art Truck” Kickstarter Campaign and are still taking pledges till 2:15PM today. We would like to raise an additional $800 for an add-on of a Lo-Jack Recovery System. We did not add this in the Kickstarter original amount as we wanted to have it at the lowest possible amount to get the truck done, so that we’d make that goal. Now that we made that goal we can add additional items, like security. I, Cara, personally voted for a bad-ass hood ornament and spinning rims, but Mar Emilia is probably right.

We can’t wait to get to the next steps of creation of Maya, Art Truck. Thank you for helping us get there.

Much love,

Cara Elaine and Maria Emilia (Mushpa y Mensa)

 

It’s Still The 1st Day of Spring In California

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Badass Brooklyn Dog, bike, cannondale bad boy ultra, Cara Reynolds, first day of spring, Flatbush, gay, lesbian, Mensa, Mushpa, Mushpa Y Mensa, mushpa y mensa wind turbines, organic, queer, spring, t shirt designs, wind turbines

Guess what I did for the First Day of Spring?

Super tuned up my Sweet Jane and went for a ride.

…and got some new glasses.

‘Tis the season!

– La Mushpa

Don’t Eat Your Food Dyes!

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alternative to food coloring, art, artist, Cara Reynolds, eco-friendly, food coloring, food coloring for crafts, handmade, home-made, Maria Emilia Borja, Mensa, Mushpa Y Mensa, t shirt designs, tie dye with food coloring, tie dye with no chemicals, what to do with old food coloring

If your food dyes don’t come from naturally derived sources, we say it’s better to keep them off your body! If you still have some around…then….

DO AN ART PROJECT!

1. Find your colors and add hot water to a container or sink.

2. Add vinegar or salt or any other mordant to make the dye stay on the fabric.

3. Dip the shirts in and let the fun begin!

We played around with different colors and techniques, but it gave us a definite hippy tie-dyed look! Totally ….

You can let the shirts sit in the dye anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. This was an experiment for us, so  the results will come in soon!

And this is what our stomachs might look like when we drink the Kool-Aid… gross!

So don’t…

Use your old dyes on things that won’t die!

-Mensa