Seattle Times Sunday Market - Dream Like Trees

This past weekend, my crepe paper flowers were written about in the Seattle Times Sunday Market! If you click here you can see the article.  It is a special spring edition about how to refresh your wardrobe and home for spring .. The flowers are mentioned in the bottom in the "At Home" section. Its so exciting to see my work get acknowledged by such a prominent publication!! You can order these flowers in my etsy shop Dream Like Trees ..

adventures in Plain // Leavenworth

i love being able to go home - home/home, to my parents house, the house i grew up in .. it feels like such a rarity in these days, being able to walk the same halls you did when you were five years old.  to have that grounding, somewhere to go when i feel out of place -  a place where i belong .. it truly is a blessing ..

while i was on this trip home to Plain/Leavenworth, i was able to volunteer for a week of theater camp, through Upper Valley Connection, for the second year .. there were over 40 participants this year, which was quite a bit more than last year! even though the additions made it more crowded, it was pretty cool to see UVC being such a big draw for people from all over the state .. a video highlighting the week is coming soon!

i love that being home also means having adventures with my neice, Vylet, who is seven years old already! i love the conversations we have, how she's more grown-up every time i see her .. i love being able to practice  photography with her, she's becoming more comfortable  with me always snapping pictures of her .. its amazing to see Vylet become sich a creative little girl! while going for a walk in the woods, we created some amazing photos ..

Being home also allows me to spend much needed quality time with my friends from childhood and now THEIR children - boys, all boys! These ladies would have been great matches for royalty, with their ability to produce male heirs :) much love to Jennifer and Jaimi for still being there for me and allowing me to be a part of their families lives - I love you girls! 

baby shower for D&G

i was a little hesitant about helping plan a baby shower, having never helped out with one before, and wasn't excited about decorating in 'baby' theme .. but i love throwing parties and celebrations in this day where the trend of being traditional and the mentality of doing things a certain way because "that's how they're usually done" is gone ..  none of us girls were into the traditional baby shower agenda, thankfully (playing baby-related games, using string to see guess how big the belly is or feeding someone baby food come to mind)! we decided to make it co-ed, so that it would be more of a get-together for our friends .. we found the perfect spot for brunch in a semi-private room at B&O Espresso on Capitol Hill, whose staff was quite accommodating and helpful .. being in charge of decorations, i of course used my flowers from Dream Like Trees and made some super cute Papa, Mama and Baby Bear decorations, complete with Max crowns :)
congrats to Gordie, Danielle and soon-to-be baby Elizabeth!!

our handsome husbands can't resist a photo shoot :)

flowers at home

i first created these crepe paper flowers in the summer of 2011 for my wedding that September. i made around 250 of the beauties in the couple months leading up to the wedding, and, though it was time consuming, boy did they save me money on real flowers! They were hanging in jars on the chairs on the aisles, sprouting from log vases on the banquet tables, and other miscellaneous decorating throughout the venue.

now, these same flowers are decorating mikey and i's first home in our married life. they're always a reminder of the special day we created together and the life we are continually building.

all images copyright © mariya jasmine photography 2012

Vylet in Wonderland

i was fortunate enough to make one last trip home before leaving for the most amazing trip of my life (so far!). i love being able to catch up with old friends and see my family before the snow comes and makes it more difficult to take a quick trip over the mountains.. 

my good friends, Jennifer and Monika, whom i got the chance to visit over the weekend..


i was also able to spend some time with my niece, Vylet, who is 5 and loves Alice in Wonderland as well as The Wizard of Oz (can you tell by the outfit?!) .. here is my photo story of the afternoon, which i believe captures the essence of both Alice and Vylet ..

Sechelt weekend

This year marked my fourth consecutive year at my fiance's family cabin up on the Sunshine Coast in Canada. As usual, there was copious amounts of sun, family, beer pong tournaments, great food, and birthday festivities for cousin Sterlz :)
This year, we finally caught the classic car show, with some really sweet old cars..the boys made a margarita station to entice the cars to "light it up", but sadly, none would comply, as they would get fined :( 

I did, however, miss the best day for boating and water skiing while working on decorations for the wedding, but maybe its for the best.. i've only tried it once...got up for a few minutes, and i've never tried again. i like my perfect record..

if you've never tried "Fireball", consider yourself lucky..its strangely addicting...

all in all, an awesome weekend with some amazing people...so happy we get to all be together again in a few weeks!

making soap

I was home with my mom a few weekends ago, and we spent 2 days making soap from scratch to use as part of the favors for my wedding. My mom is pretty awesome. she always takes on too much because she wants to help everyone, which is an admirable trait. so really, she made this soap, and i just helped her :) here are some of the scents you can use. for the first batch we choose to do a rose scented soap and the second a blood-orange scent (reminds me of Dexter)

this process takes a lot of measuring, melting, and mixing. then you have to get the ingredients to the correct temperature, and then mix some more. and if you remember edward norton getting his hand burned in fight club, that could have really happened, but luckily didn't.

so for the first batch, we put real dried lavender pieces, and the second, we put rose petals from a bouquet from my friend's wedding last summer..

after mixing everything together, it then gets stored in a wooden crate that has to been covered and wrapped up to keep at the same temperature. here is what it looks like after immediately being poured all together.

then, there is a lot of waiting. its takes 24 hours to solidify, and still a month before its ready to be cut and used. here is what the lavender one looked like after 24 hours