Zero to chaos in three minutes or less

Sometimes my kids are with me in my Cow Art and More office. I do my best to keep them occupied with something productive while also keeping an eagle eye on them. If you're a parent, you know how quickly things can go from perfect to pandemonium in a wee couple of minutes.

In my life, it happens when I'm on the phone.


Meet my youngest child.

A serious flirt.

And mischief maker.

And he eats....A LOT. In fact, if you ask him, he will tell you his name is Chunky Monkey.











His father and I are completely prepared to get the phone call from school one day that he has run his underwear up a flagpole.

(And is using his charm and good looks to get out of having to scrub the entire cafeteria floor as his punishment.)











Why am I worried about such things at such a young and sweet and tender age? Because of what he can do with a couple of markers in just three minutes.



Who knew that in the time it takes to take a phone order from a customer that you can paint your hands with a marker.












And if that wasn't enough, he wanted to show me he artistic talent and could use the complimentary color orange on his arms to set off the color purple on his hands. (If you're trying to calculate a score for this masterpiece, using two colors in under three minutes does increase the difficulty factor by 0.3).













So if you ever call to ask a question, place an order, or just otherwise chit-chat, remind me to check on Chunky Monkey and make sure I have all marking elements (including my collection of 64 different colors of Sharpies) in my possession.

(By the way, I can't wait to get a note from school today asking me to keep my child home until his fungus has resolved.)

Monday's agriculture website - Pumpkin Patches

At least for me, Fall brings thoughts of leaves falling from trees, cooler weather, and Halloween. Of course what's Halloween without a carved pumpkin? Looking for a fun way to find a pumpkin patch and make it a family activity? Check out the Pumpkin Patches and More website for a state by state listing of pumpkin patches, Halloween events, and hayrides. There is even a link for Halloween crafts and recipes. The website also includes articles on what to expect when visiting a pumpkin patch or corn maze.

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.

New LOWER silver cow jewelry prices

What goes up, must come down....eventually. Precious metals prices are finally showing signs of a continuing downward price. As I have promised to customers in the past, when metal prices come down, so will jewelry prices. Woo hoo! Enjoy lower prices on all the sterling silver cow jewelry charms, charm bracelets, and snake chain necklaces effective immediately! (And as always, excellent customer service is at no additional charge.) I can't guarantee how long this will last and suggest buying now for Christmas.

And the cow art gift certificate winner is....

Congratulations to Colleen Newvine (@NewvineGrowing) for being the lucky winner of the drawing for the $50 gift certificate for participating in our customer satisfaction survey. She can spend it any way she likes, which we hope will come in handy with the holidays on the way.

In case you're curious as to how her name was picked (and want to see the video debut of the official studio cat), you're invited to watch the selection video:

Am I superwoman? Hardly.

I get the comment from amazed and bewildered people from time to time regarding my many hats (veterinarian, jewelry artist, art gallery owner, mom, agnerd, volunteer -- and not necessarily in that order depending on the day).

"How do you get it all done?"

I don't know that I do anything much different from anyone else, but here's my take on how I get things done (outside of my magic wand):

1. I don't sleep much. Caffeine and I are close friends, and I don't spend much time with my head on a pillow. While this let's me get a lot done, I am working hard on trying to change this. I have a sneaking suspicion that it's affecting my health in not a good way, so this one has got to get remedied sooner rather than later.
2. I don't do anymore housework than absolutely necessary. Not kidding. I do my best to make sure my kids go to school in clean clothes and don't get sick from a food borne illness, but the rest gets done......whenever. My little peeps (or Hurricane three boys as I affectionately refer to them sometimes) can destroy a house in minutes. Seriously. So why spend hours (yes, hours) cleaning up only to have chaos again in a matter of minutes? I have just learned to live with the chaos and not have people over to visit without 3 weeks notice and a cleaning crew scheduled.
   
3. This next one is a biggie. I didn't even realize my advantage here until a couple of years ago. My husband works at the grocery store. I send a list with him every day or two and I almost never have to go. I figure this one saves me three to five hours a week, easy.
   
4. I don't watch much TV. Okay, I do like watching a few shows, but when I do, it's on the DVR or online. Zip through the commercials and that 1 hour show is now down to forty-two minutes (and I'm usually making jewelry while I'm watching).
   
5. I have a great babysitter. She is fantastic at helping to keep my kids in line and fed...and my kids LOVE her. (More than me sometimes as they have been so kind to share as I'm taking away their favorite monster trucks for beating the crap out of each other.)
   
6. I spend every possible moment doing something. This probably isn't quite the best as my brain probably does need some down time, but if I've got a minute, I'm busy. The ten or fifteen minutes I might have waiting on a client or getting to my next destination early is perfect for catching up on blog reading, sending out emails, or returning a few phone calls. And since I also spend a lot of time in a vet truck, I subscribe to some killer business podcasts and listen while driving.
7. I have the best, most supportive spouse in the world. Parenting is something we both do. He knows when I'm in my office working that he's in charge. I can't also thank him enough for the help he gives me in the business.

I am anything but superwoman. I just play her on my blog.

Let me hear from you. What do you do to get through your day?

Monday's agriculture website - Feedyard Foodie

What happens when South Florida athlete meets country boy and moves to Nebraska? You get the blending of city and country and the resulting blog: Feedyard Foodie. Anne Burkholder writes about her family's feedlot operation and what it's like taking care of the beef animals on her farm. She also delves into the tough topics that consumers have questions on: hormone use, confinement, and animal welfare. You can also view a slideshow of the many pictures she has of her cattle and ranch.