Pamper Yourself Local: ladies' night

photo courtesy of: The Specific Chiropractic Center

I am so pumped to share this exciting event with you:
Koukla Mou Designs will be at Ladies Night of Indulgence on April 29 at the Portland Harbor Hotel. In addition to jewelry there will be many other vendors to pamper you and give you attention, including desserts by Mom Made It!, gourmet cheeses, Scentsy Candles, Arbonne, personal training, Karma Fair Trade, Tupperware, Pampered Chef, bra fittings from Macy's (WOOHOO!), photography and many more!

photo courtesy of: Mom Made It!

photo courtesy of: K. Horton Specialty Foods

Something else exciting:
For the first time, I will be accepting credit cards! (double "yay"!)

Detail recap:
April 29 from 5:00-8:00 p.m. at Portland Harbor Hotel
Register online and be sure to enter discount code "koukla" to receive $5.00 off. All ticket proceeds will benefit the American Heart Association.

Indulge yourself silly - you SO deserve it

April Snow Brings: Autism Awareness

'Tis the Month to Be Aware
I am SO excited about today. Not only is it a snow day, but it is also April. April is Autism Awareness month. As a special educator, I try to educate staff and students about how to be a good friend to someone with Autism. Of course, this is a daily goal, but this month gives us a great excuse to get into classrooms. Due to the busyness of the year, we are going to have to hustle and bustle to put something enriching together this year.


The Love
I have worked with children with Autism for the past 6 years. These children have brought such joy into my life. Each day,there is always SO MUCH laughter and an abundance of smiles. The perseveration, random words, conversations and hugs make my heart burst with love and overcome any frustrations I may be feeling. As a K-4 teacher, I have the pleasure to have some of these children for 5 years. It offers opportunity for close relationships and our classroom often feels like a big family. I wish I could share all the stories, but there is this little thing called "confidentiality".

*Pretend there is a picture of all my students here*

Local Events
There are many local events this month in which you can become involved actively or as a spectator, including a Portland Pirates game and a Sea Dogs game.

Necklace
This is the first piece of jewelry I've made in support of Autism Awareness. I'm so pumped about it. A cluster containing a freshwater coin pearl, turquoise, "lentil" glass, and Swarovski hangs from a 40" antique brass chain. My favorite part of the necklace is the handcrafted and hammered 14K gold filled autism ribbon, hanging a bit above the cluster. Unique.


For more information about Autism visit http://www.autism-society.org/

Inspired By My COACH: purse

In my birthday blog, I mentioned my new COACH purse, my first ever COACH purse. The color is brilliant and although a little darker than "coral" I like to call it coral.


Antique Brass Chain
I had ordered 50 feet of antique brass chain at Caravan Beads. I walked out of the store with the spool of chain and my purse. When I ordered it, I had high hopes for its use. When I picked it up, I thought, "What was I thinking? Why did I order SO MUCH?!" However, as I was walking to my car, purse under arm and spool in hand, the colors looked amazing together. Mission: find coral beads!


The Beadin' Path
What better place to look? and use my birthday gift cards? I spent over an hour looking at the same 4 strands of beads and trying to figure out what exactly I wanted to do with them. What exactly DID I do with them?

antique brass chain with lucite and antique brass beads necklace 42"

42" antique brass and lucite necklace

20" antique brass and lucite necklace

Some more things to come
So I clearly need to make earrings to match all of these necklaces, but here are some earrings that would also match perfectly with them. Oh and these would look great, too! Something I'm excited about...my owl. I have high hopes for this little guy!

Is he not SO cute and innocent?!

My Birthday in Mobile Uploads: spoiled

My girls who threw my party (note the red and silver balloons to match my outfit!)

Last year I brought to you "My Life in Mobile Uploads". My friend (see Jenika above with blonde hair) inspired me to write another.

I. Am. SPOILED!
I walked into school last week and laughed: from the office, out of the main building, into the portable, down the hall and to my classroom door. All throughout the school were pictures of me at various ages. The pictures were on the bathroom door, on the refrigerator...EVERYWHERE.
When I finally arrived at my classroom (still laughing), this is what I saw:

The kids LOVED going through this. Everytime, saying, "CARWASH!" (note all the pictures of me on either side).

Secret Admirer
I still have NO IDEA who these are from. It is a flower "birthday cake" and it is GORGEOUS. A week later and they still look beautiful. The card read, "Happy 30th Birthday, Friends". Who wants to fess up?

CUPCAKES!
Red and silver sprinkled cupcakes to match my birthday outfit (remember, match whenever possible). I really wanted to blow out ALL the candles at once and I really had to give myself a pep-talk (inside my mind), but I did it!


Not So Secret Admirer
I'm growing up. My first ever COACH purses. Enough said.



Spoiled? Yes. Loved? No Doubt. Deserve it all? Absolutely!

30% off: my gift to you

3rd bday - check out the blonde hair!

Happy Birthday to ME
Tomorrow is my birthday (WOOHOO!) Here's what YOU get... 30% everything in my etsy shop. One percent for each year I've been alive....what a deal!

Party like it's 1981

Enter coupon code "BIRTHDAY30" at checkout on March 11 only.

Happy shopping!nice hair

It's my birthday week: what to wear

I love my birthday. Who doesn't remember my 11 days of giveaways last year? Well, I have been much too busy to plan a giveaway, but I do have something in store for March 11, so be looking. March 11 is Friday. My birthday. And I'm turning THIRTY.

Trying to find the perfect dress
I went shopping on Saturday morning to find my birthday dress. Afterall, you only turn 30 once. I was FREAKING OUT trying to find a dress. And I HATE shopping. I am busy every night this week, so really it was my only time to find something. I couldn't find ANYTHING.

Surprise!
After all the freaking out, my family threw me a surprise party on Saturday night. What an emotional day. I was in shock for a good 4 hours. Everyone needs to be surprised at least once in their life. And only once...
The outfit
So on Sunday, two of my best girlfriends decided that I really shouldn't freak out anymore and they went shopping with me. I found the dress (birthday dress) at Forever 21. It is perfect. It's red. It's comfortable. The shoes (DSW) were more expensive than the dress, but they are also perfect and comfortable. Red dress. Gray shoes. Score. Full-length pics? You'll have to wait for those.

Jewelry
Swarovski earrings, oh so long.

A matching bracelet? Yes, please.


Putting it all together
I will post pics after my birthday bash. Did you know I have a birthday on Friday?

Permission to Rest: freedom to be

garnet chips and copper

The other night, I was so frustrated with myself, because I had been feeling like I had so much to accomplish during vacation. Instead of tackling any of these "things", I did absolutely nothing. In reality, none of these "things" even need to get done this week. I put so much pressure on myself all the time. I was talking to a friend who said, "Rachel! Do I need to look up "vacation" in the Merriam-Webster for you? You don't have to work. Give yourself a break." That just about did it for me. It was completely freeing. I don't have to make jewelry, post new items, blog and tweet during vacation this week. A hobby was becoming an obligation and I was the only one who had expectations for myself. That night, I gave myself permission to rest and do nothing.

smoky quartz and copper

The funny thing is...
The next day I wanted to make jewelry. So I sat on the floor (I love sitting on the floor...I don't know why, I just do), caught up on all my favorite shows: Glee, One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl (how old am I?), Gray's, and Private Practice, and made some new items. They have not been added to my Etsy shop yet, but they are all for sale.

sterling silver and turquoise chips

gold filled hammered hoops with green freshwater pearls

peridot chips and copper