Education of a Knight 1

Knights of the 21st century must be at the top of the education level about world affairs. I do not mean an upper level, postgraduate type of education. I mean knowing and understanding the facts of a situation. An uneducated man with a sword is called a thug. It was true in the 11th century and it is true now. Education is absolutely essential to informed decision making. Knights must be able to discern the difference between what is dangerous and what is merely an annoyance. To this end, I urge every citizen of the United States to arm themselves with knowledge regarding world events. I will not give my opinion. I will only provide resource material that is truthful. It comes from a western perspective and I admit that completely, but it is not inaccurate. I also will refrain from bombarding you with too much information at once. This will be the first reference in a series regarding world events, history, and putting chivalry into perspective.

"The Real History of the Crusades"
by Thomas F. Madden, historian
Snip:
Many historians had been trying for some time to set the record straight on the Crusades — misconceptions are all too common. These historians are not revisionists, but mainstream scholars offering the fruit of several decades of very careful, very serious scholarship. For them, current interest is a “teaching moment,” an opportunity to explain the Crusades while people are actually listening. It won’t last long, so here goes.

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.crisismagazine.com/2011/the-real-history-of-the-crusades

Never Pay Retail for... Furniture

I get a lot of people asking me how I manage never to pay retail prices for anything. This isn't a casual question asked in polite conversation mind. This is more of an intense interview after backing me into a corner type of question. So, in order to reduce the number of creative escapes I must make each month, I thought I would post some of my best tips for not spending money, right here. The short answer is research. But the details are so much more complicated. I can't do it in a single post so we'll categorize.

I thought I'd start with one of my favorite subjects; furniture. I am a furniture lunatic. I admit it. And I refuse to seek therapy. The following rules have some of my favorite finds interspersed. You'll see why therapy for my furniture obsession would only cost me much more money in the long run. Only a woman obsessed would go to such lengths to find her caviar tastes for sale at pizza prices.

New puppy whose nickname is now "Satan."

Rule #1: If it isn't on sale, don't buy it. Period. Just don't. OK, so the new puppy just ate a hole in your leather sofa. You liked that sofa. It was comfy. It was part of your football watching routine. So, you check the Sunday circulars. New leather sofas are $1000. DO NOT buy one. Instead, decide which style you like. Fashions change and furniture fashions are no exception. You may or may not want one just like the previous one. All you need to do for now is decide what the replacement should look like and what quality it should be.

Rule #2: Sales are good. Clearance is better. So maybe you can find some leather sofas on sale for $800. Do you really want to pay $800? Many furniture stores have clearance sections that they do not advertise. RC Willey has an undecorated warehouse-like room in the back of its stores. This is the clearance section and it is your friend. Yes, you will have to actually visit the store to see what is there but it is sooooo worth it. (They also have some limited items online at rcwilley.com/Outlet.) You may find a reasonable match for that sofa for $400. Much better, yes?

I fell in love with this silk sofa at first sight. It was nowhere near my budget range.
By chance, I found it in the clearance room months later. It is now the reading sofa in my bedroom.
Satan has a restraining order against him regarding this sofa. He's not allowed within 10 feet of it.

Rule #3: Discount stores are the bomb. Steinmart, Tuesday Morning, Home Goods, Marshall's, Big Lots; all these are chains that carry quality items below retail. Some have furniture, some don't. Also, the stock varies and many of the items may be one of a kind depending on what the closeout item at the retail store was. Know where they are, what they carry, and how they are laid out in order to spend the least amount of time and money in them.



Rule #4: Know Thy Comparables. I'm not going to use the word "knockoffs" because these are not knockoffs. The fact is there are many "designer" brands out there that are made by the same manufacturers who also sell to lower end clients. For all intents and purposes, these lower end stores' versions are exactly the same as the designer version, minus some detail (or sometimes plus details). A good example is Pottery Barn and Target. I love the Pottery Barn catalog! But, many times I find the same item at Target or http://target.com for much less. And of course, I don't ever pay retail at Target. I wait for a sale and use my Target Visa and get another 5% back on the purchase. Which brings us to...


Rule #5: Use a card that pays you back. This one is getting easier as so many will offer you a percentage of your money back either in cash, money off your purchase, or points to be used toward gift cards. Discover gives cash back which they build in your account. You can either take the cash value or you can use it toward gift certificates for less than the face value of the certificate, i.e. $40 cash gets you a $50 gift card. Guess which one I choose.

My children are responsible for my reputation as a bargain hunter extraordinaire.
This "purchase" is one of my most famous.

Rule #6: Craigslist. That $1,000 leather sofa? Found, brand new, on Craigslist for $195. No, I am not joking. They bought it on sale and could not return it. The wife hated it. I paid them $200 even. Now that's therapy.

I Promised You Tiaras

I now have two tiaras for sale on Etsy. Both are hand made and both have been somewhat inspired by the Swedish tiaras. The most recent one was completed and listed today. It is an amethyst tiara and is shown below left. The tiara at right is the Swedish tiara as worn by Crown Princess Victoria.

I have wanted to create an amethyst tiara for a very long time as my oldest son was born in February. This one incorporates both boys' birthstones as my younger son was born in June and there are plenty of freshwater pearls worked into the design.

The tiara I listed prior to the amethyst tiara was a glass cameo style. I must say I was more interested in the glass idea than the cameo element. After researching various possibilities for a glass tiara, I went with a cameo setting of intaglio glass as a safe style that would outlast other possibilities. It was very important for the tiaras I make to be able to stand the test of time. The glass cameo tiara is shown below followed by the Swedish Cameo tiara as worn by Crown Princess Victoria on her wedding day.

Kronmakaren

I found the loveliest blog today. Kronmakaren: the story of a crownmaker. This is a woman who has been doing with wire and rocks the things that I wish to do. Just reading the blog has given me such great inspiration. I think you will be seeing a new crown for sale on Etsy soon.

Rather Royal on Etsy

http://www.etsy.com/shop/RatherRoyal?ref=si_shop

I am a huge fan of Etsy. Many of the artists I love have, or started out with, an Etsy shop. After having great success purchasing from this site, I am now opening my own shop; Rather Royal.

Curently it is just a small shop with vintage offerings but I am planning to expand into handmade jewelry. OK, I admit it; tiaras to be specific. Some will be an update to an existing design, others will be entirely new in both design and materials.

Hopefully I will have some pins to offer as matches to the tiaras. I mean, who wants a tiara that has no ability to become a parure, right?

I'd also like, eventually, to offer some copies of my own collection. Many of my jewelry pieces are antiques passed down from early last century. When people ask about their origins, I have to say it came from this or that relative which is not what they are really asking. They want to know where they can get something similar. I'd like to be able to provide that for them.

In Love

Through a series of not so great illnesses in the family, both pet and human, it became apparent that we were in for a new dog. Thanks to the kindness of the Good Lord above, it was THIS dog.

This is Reagan. He is four months old. A beautiful Cavalier King Charles Spaniel in Blenheim. I am in love. Don't tell my husband.

Leap Day

Twenty years ago today, I was in labor. Wasn't supposed to be. This little boy still had three weeks to go. But, as with boys in general, he simply didn't want to wait.

It's hard to believe that my oldest child is turning 20. The kid has only had five birthdays, including this one. But the DMV insisted it was OK to give him a driver's license. Actually that was a good thing. It's been a real lifesaver to have him be able to pick up my younger son from school. For a kid who was trouble from the get-go, he sure turned out good.

Oops

I seem to have fallen down the rabbit hole while moving my blog.

I've lost pretty much everything from June 2011 to February 2012. The older posts (well, most of them) were salvageable. I'll be putting those back up as I have time.

I know what you're thinking. Don't worry; the Donkey post was saved.