Tuesday, July 15, 2008

tool tuesday: behold the humble tweezers

It's "tool tuesday" again! And today I shall honour my humble tweezers, much-used and much-loved. Often working on a small scale, I use these tweezers for picking up wee bits and pieces for my reliquary assemblages, getting tiny things out of tight places, and plucking the odd sliver from my delicate hands. These particular tweezers are corneal tweezers purchased for $11.50 from one of my favourite tool stores, Lee Valley. I like Lee Valley because I like to support Canadian companies, they have good quality stuff, and they really know and love their tools. You can tell by reading the loving catalogue descriptions they bestow on each of their tools. This is their blurb about the corneal tweezers: Designed for delicate corneal excisions, these surgical stainless-steel tweezers are tipped with notched teeth that intersect for an extraordinary grip. Ideal for delicately removing elusive slivers, plucking errant debris from fine finishes or retrieving small things from near-inaccessible places, they are manufactured with finger grip holes along the flex-steel arms for outstanding control.

Experimenting with placement of a small silver bead in one of my remnant reliquaries.

Dipping into my little box of treasures.

Very useful for picking up my new favourite things - tiny Christmas light bulbs salvaged from an IKEA string of lights purchased at a garage sale. They are rather bug-like and remind me of small fireflies. I have a plan for these!

8 comments:

Shayla said...

What an interesting box of treasures- it was very fun to snoop- and I'm really intrigued to see what you will do with the "fireflies."

Wayfaring Wanderer said...

My fingernails act as tweezers, they're actually getting too long now. Although, I don't usually mess with things that tiny. Those bulbs reminded me of bugs also!

My tool Tuesday would be scissors, or glue....haha....thanks for sharing!

kate said...

Shayla...I'll post whatever I decide to do with the "fireflies". Hint: It involves thread and Japanese paper. By the way, you had a great post on your crackfill and spackle tools. Care to share some tuesday?

Wayfaring Wanderer...as you can see I keep my nails really short :) And feel feel to submit scissors or glue for a tool tuesday! Would be fun to hear what you have to say about them!

jo horswill said...

Now these are great tweezers!!!
I use tweezers to very gently pry my delicate 'chine colle' papers from printing plates...I certainly appreciate a good pair!!! Love the box of treasures Kate...and look forward to seeing the 'fireflies' too!

Vanessa said...

Ok, here I MUST confess my tweezer FETISH. I am not lying, not exaggerating. My family will confirm this. They are great tools for creating and also...you know if you are over 35...those 'unsightly'(gruesome little boogers that sprout suddenly and voraciously at 1/2 an inch a day!) hairs. So, I have them, on my desk, by my TV chair, in my purse, car, bathroom...probably more lurking around. It is the perfect tool for hygiene AND arts and crafts!

marlana said...

Kate, I share your deep appreciation for suave and tantalizing wording. I, too, swooned for the juicy description of the tweezer, itself a work of art. Goes to show that techies can be creative souls.

Do you have fireflies in your garden? Mine come out around 8 p.m., even before it's dark.

redredday said...

oooh. what a nice set of tweezers. i want one too. i recently stole some pointy ones from my dad that he uses for jewelry-making. it's been quite handy with making the spoons.
i really enjoy your Tuesday tool posts, on top of seeing your work.

fireflies, Japanese paper and thread sound magical!

kate said...

Thanks to all of you for your tweezer-friendly comments. Seems like everyone loves a pair of tweezers (especially Vanessa)! And now I have some motivation to get going on those "firefly" pieces.

Marlana...I do have fireflies in my garden. I like seeing them fly about but it's even better when they land on the ground and gently glow in amongst the blades of grass.

redredday...thanks for your kind words. Don't hesitate to send in a tool description of your own one of these tool tuesdays!