Packing cow jewelry for shipping

Wonder what happens when you place an order for cow and cowgirl jewelry on Cow art and More? Wonder if the little minions are filling your order or if it's even filled by some big warehouse with lots of forklifts driving around? This short video shows you exactly how your order is carefully packaged and shipped to you!

Packaging cow jewelry orders - Cow Art and More

Wonder what happens when you place an order for cow and cowgirl jewelry on Cow art and More? This short video shows you exactly how your order is carefully packaged and shipped to you!

New sterling silver jewelry charm

I am proud to announce the new jewelry charm has arrived! Enjoy the solid sterling silver milk bottle as a way to show your dairy pride (and help a worthy charity in the process).



Click here to order the sterling silver milk bottle charm

P.S. Order this silver milk bottle charm through Thursday, June 23, and receive FREE shipping!

Friday's art article - Precious metal and jewelry prices

If you're on the Cow Art and More mailing list, you may have received an email yesterday explaining that jewelry prices will be going up effective May 1. As I write this, the price of silver has gone up 50 percent since the beginning of the year. I have grappled with trying to keep jewelry prices at reasonable levels in this economy, but unfortunately, the amount of metal used in a piece of cow jewelry is the number one influencing factor in the final price of the jewelry charms, bracelets and necklaces. As the price of sterling silver goes up, I'm faced with the daunting task of managing shrinking margins with affordability to the customer. (I won't get into showing you a bunch of graphs and reports, but you can go to kitco.com and research silver, gold and platinum prices for as many months or decades as you want to.) While absorbing minimal to moderate changes in the price has been tough, I simply cannot absorb that big a price change in the raw materials without it impacting the final retail price.

So you may be asking yourself, "Why is the price changing so much?"

Simply put, precious metals also serves as an investment vehicle. As the United States economy continues to be on shaky ground, precious metals continues to grow in popularity across many economies as a way to protect against a weakening U.S. dollar. Unfortunately for those of us who use the actual metal (versus investing in shares or futures of the product), we are faced with a smaller supply available for us to use in a finished piece of jewelry, flatware, sculpture, etc.

While there are the labor costs associated with producing an actual piece of cow jewelry, the amount of metal used in the charms, necklaces, pendants and bracelets is by far the largest influencing factor. All I can ask is for your understanding in this time of price increases and know that I will HAPPILY lower prices once the precious metal markets come back down.

Polishing cow jewelry

In getting ready for the Cow Art and More booth at the National Holstein Convention this June, I decided a jewelry inventory was in order.  In doing so, I had some dairy cow jewelry pieces that needed polishing.


Metal doesn't want to be shiny.  If silver had its choice, it will be a dull flat gray color.  We jewelry folks give that bright shine that is so appealing.  This is a group of cows that have been polished (foreground) and another group that need polishing (small pile to the upper left of the picture).  Before polishing, I coat all of the pieces with a black patina (stain).  This will buff off easily, except in the cracks and crevices.  This is actually what I want, since that dark patina will highlight some of the subtle details of the cow charm.

The cow to the far left has the black patina, but has not been polished.  The one on the right of the picture has been polished.










There's a couple different ways of doing this, but this time, I'm using a flex shaft tool with a buff and red rouge polishing compound.   While spinning the buff, I dip it into the red rouge (the mostly hard brick in the right part of the picture), then press the buff onto different areas of the cow charm.







In case you're thinking this looks like your dentist's office, you're pretty much right.  Just imagine the higienist polishing your teeth with that minty toothpaste, except I'm using polishing compound on metal.








It leaves a dark red residue on my hands and fingers, which mostly comes off with soap and water.  It does get into the cracks of your hands and fingernails though, so people will wonder if you have some strange incurable fungus or something similar.

When I'm done polishing, I use Dawn dish soap to get the greasy compound off.  I dry them thoroughly, then they're ready to go!

Click here to see the complete collection of sterling silver cow and farm jewelry charms.

Cow Art and More to create jewelry charm for charity

Cow Art and More is excited to announce gallery owner and jewelry artist Kathy McComb Swift will be creating a new jewelry charm to make its debut at the 2011 National Holstein Convention in Richmond, Virginia. A portion of the sale of this charm will benefit the National Holstein Wives Scholarship Organization (NHWSO). The NHWSO provides scholarships for deserving youth who are pursuing college and graduate level education in agriculture. While the charm design has been decided, the finished piece will not be unveiled to the public until closer to the event.

Jewelry charm sales to support youth program

Cow Art and More is once again partnering with the American Jersey Cattle Association (AJCA) to fundraise for the Jersey youth program. The charm replica of the traditional Jersey jug, created by me (Kathy McComb Swift), will be available for purchase at the All American Jersey show and sale in Louisville, Kentucky, November 6 and 7. Cow Art and More will donate 15 percent of the selling price to AJCA to help support future Jersey milk producers through youth scholarships. This same percentage will also apply to any purchases made through the Cow Art and More website.

I am excited the project was enough a success last year to do it again this year. The future of agriculture is with our community's young people. I am honored and proud to help.

The charm is available for purchase in the jewelry section of the Cow Art and More catalog or by calling the toll free customer care number, 888-613-6019.

Picture credit: sterling silver Jersey jug milk can charm

Click here to go to Cow Art and More to learn more about this piece of cow jewelry

And the new jewelry charm is....

In case you haven't stopped by the Cow Art and More jewelry page or our Facebook page recently, I ran a contest allowing visitors to select the next cow jewelry charm.

Drumroll please....

By ONE vote, the winner is a cow bell! I have my task and will be happy to keep everyone updated on the process. Thanks all for stopping by to vote!


P.S. If you want to get notified by email when this charm becomes available, sign up for the Cow Art and More email list and check the box for NEW JEWELRY NOTIFICATIONS