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!

Giving Thanks for your favorite charity

Thanksgiving is the annual U.S. holiday that allows us to stop and give thanks for the blessings in our lives. Cow Art and More is no different. We are thankful to have the opportunity to showcase the best in agricultural art (and the best customers I might add). The stories you share with us about how our art has brought so much joy to your life are truly a treasure. This month, we would like to say THANK YOU by helping three different charities (and here's where we need your help).

Cow Art and More will give a silver jewelry charm each to three worthy charities to include in their fundraising activities. We know that many groups have yearly auctions and/or raffles and work very hard to find donations for these events. We want to help.

1. Please send an email to info@cowartandmore.com with a brief description of your group and what you will do with the charm.
   
2. Explain what the donation proceeds will help you do and include a picture if you can. The responses will be included on our Facebook fan page.
   
3. The three winners will be announced Thanksgiving Day. (By the way, you can encourage your friends to comment on our Facebook page to help plead your cause!)

Thank YOU for the opportunity and we look forward to helping others this month.

Lost Wax Jewelry Casting Process - How silver jewelry is made

As many of you know, in making silver cow jewelry, I send it out to a small company in Maine to get the original model reproduced. I don't make the multiples myself because it's a labor intensive process and requires a lot of equipment. I've been on the search for a good video that explains the lost wax casting procedures and found this one is a good fit. It is from another jeweler showing how he reproduced a couple of wedding rings, but the process is still the same. It does lack, however, in some captions that I think would be helpful to explaining how it's done, so I will sum it up in a nutshell here:

1. You start with an original model (either out of wax or a metal model).
2. Make a mold of that model.
3. Inject that mold with hot wax to make replicas of the model.
4. Put all the models onto a 'tree'. The base of the tree is on raised circle called a button.
5. Surround the tree with a can and investment (plaster).
6. Heat the can and investment so the wax evaporates. Then you are left with a negative space.
7. Heat the appropriate amount of metal and fill the negatives space in the tree.
8. Dissolve the plaster in water and cut the metal pieces off the tree.
9. Finish and polish.

Common mistakes when buying jewelry for a gift

Part of making jewelry and interacting with customers also means that I have learned the do's and don'ts of buying jewelry for a gift. These are the top 5 "blunders" I've seen people make when buying jewelry and my advice on how to prevent them.

1. Not knowing the details. I have actually had men buy earrings for a gift and not know if the woman had pierced ears. Wow! Major gamble! Find out as much information about your lady as possible. A good start is to find out a ring size, bracelet size, preferred length of necklaces, color preferences, metal preferences and any allergies.

2. Getting her something she doesn't have. This is only a good thing if you have heard her say that she wants a ".....". For example, if she doesn't own any bracelets, there may be a good reason why. Maybe she has a job where it gets in the way or she would have to take it off frequently. Take a quick inventory of her jewelry and get an idea of what she prefers or take notes the next time you are window shopping together.

3. Not considering the "what ifs". Is your jewelry purchase sizable? Can you return or exchange it if she doesn't like it? What if she likes the pendant but wants a different chain? Understand the exchange and return policy on the jewelry BEFORE you purchase it.

4. Buying something that doesn't go with her body type. Believe it or not, how a piece of jewelry is shaped or formed impacts how it looks on a person. For example, round earrings do not look good on a woman with a round face. A small pendant on a short chain isn't particularly flattering to a curvaceous woman with a large bustline. When you're buying the piece, get the person helping you to give suggestions or even the model the jewelry if necessary to help with the decision making process.

5. Buying something that doesn't go with her style. Buy her something she will wear! If she doesn't go to a lot of fancy occasions, she may not get a lot of wear from a big, fancy cocktail ring. Inexpensive earrings may be a better fit for daily wear. If she does a lot of work with her hands, a ring may not hold up to her rough schedule, but a necklace might fit the bill.

I am always happy to help shoppers with their gift purchases! There is also a group of articles on the Cow Art and More art resources page that art collectors, enthusiasts and jewelry collectors may also find helpful.

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 video - How to add charms to a charm bracelet

Want to know how to add charms to a bracelet yourself? I've created this short video to show you how to do it in just a couple of minutes with a few tools.

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.