2.19.2013

toolin' around tuesdays: get yo nails did


here we go y'all, giveaway the second!

last summer, my sis in law gave me, apropos of nothing, this little crystal nail file.  the women on ruggy's side of the family tree never seem to be without a file.  once, i had to get a manicure for a photo shoot of a show i was in, and we happened to be visiting down south at the time.  aunt ruggy and i trekked to the salon together, and the ladies veritably cackled at the state of my hands.  if you know about southern women, you know they do not cackle.  they smile sweetly and say things like bless your heart.  that's how bad my nails were.  and that's before i ever started sewing.

how do all these sewing bloggers have perfectly painted nails in photos?  i just can't seem to be bothered-- though they grow like nobody's business, a pristine canvas for paint.  i give the phrase "tough as nails" a whole new meaning.  BUT, when a rogue unpolished nail snags a piece of yardage, them's fightin words.  mais!  steel nail files and clippers, they catch on pretty fabric just as easily!  


no such worry with this little crystal gem.  it's smooth as glass on one side, and the other is a washable filing surface that never grows dull. YES I SAID WASHABLE.  just run it under water, and your file is clean and ready to go.  cause let's face it, that's what trips my germaphobic ass out about regular nail files, keeps me away from them like the plague.  dead nail dust is gross.

i knew instantly when i thought up this little giveaway brainstorm for my fifth bloggy birthday, this tool had to be one of the five gifties.  but i'll tell you what.  sephora NEVER has them in stock.  not in person, at least, and since i want to include oona oddities in each giveaway package, ordering a prize online and then reshipping it is so not happening.


enter ricky's of new york.  this is a small chain store, a carnival for hair supplies, halloween costumes, trinkets, they even have a 21-and-over section in the back.  AND CRYSTAL NAIL FILES.  waaaaay better than the one at sephora, too!  lookit the size of that jammy!  i must admit, when i saw this beauty, i considered keeping it for myself.  everyone knows that bigger is better.  

but no, it is virgin and untouched, it is just for you.  to enter giveaway number two, just shout out in the comments: has sewing wrecked your hands?  are they manicured, or massacred?

and now, for last week's giveaway winner...there were 140 comments for the clover chaco pen, with 5 of those comments being additional/don't include me.  and all of the comments being highly enjoyable.  i wasn't my usual responsive self because i wanted to make life easier when it came time to tally up, but y'all had me rolling.  

behold, a screenshot of the fancy random number generator app i found!  (peeps.  i HATE the regular random number generator.  it is so...fugly...my eyes...they tear up when i see it...)


i will admit to photoshopping the colors on this screenshot.  it's black and orange in the app.  houses are not safe from my amateur PS skillz, why should screenshots be?  next time i'm switching that blue up too.


julie!  holler at me with your info, girl, we got to get you out of horse n' buggy era!  you can find my contact info on my "about me" page.  if it's too confusing, ask albert, he was always handy. 

if you didn't win, and you'd like to do some retail therapy, here's the link to clover's marking tools, (chacopens at the bottom of the page) for your research.  nope, no compensation, just aiding and abetting...and you can always throw your hat in the ring for today's tool! and ps: i will indeed ship anywhere, for you new zealanders who might be worried about postage.  y'all new zealanders is CA-RAY-ZAY!  i can't leave y'all out!

update: closed...winner announced in mere moments, and come back tuesday march 4 for a chance to win tool number three...

53 comments:

  1. I am a chronic nail biter. *sigh* So my nails are never pretty. Plus hand sewing kills my fingers because I'm always poking myself. Guess I should invest in a thimble too! lol. And they get super dry in the winter because I wear gloves loads at work plus have to write on chalk boards and wash my hands all the time.

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  2. My nails are a mess, which is ridiculous because I have NICE nails. I just don't do anything to promote or highlight them. When I have a manicure, OMG, people come running. Um, how did this become about me bragging?? And being lazy?

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  3. I'm in the massacre camp. I have a manual job and my hands are in and out of water all the time. And getting stabbed with weenie screwdrivers (I make specs.) And besides all that? I have short, fat hands with short, fat nailbeds. They are not pretty but they do exactly what I tell them to do and I love them.

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  4. I gave up biting my nails for the bajillionth time and the only thing saving me this time around is my ever ready nail file and the bottle of hooker red nail polish that I will be using after the move. It's going to be EPIC. I still have never had a manicure - I am afraid of being judged!

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  5. I would love a nail file that never dulls. I try to keep my nails in check but they chip like crazy!

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  6. I think my nails get abused mostly from me biting them and banging them around.
    I guess sometimes they might get rotary cuts. My hands tend to get stab a bit.

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  7. I don't think about my my nails until they snag on my fabric.

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  8. Oooh I have been on the hunt for a crystal nail filer for FOREVER! Sewing aside. Like you, my nails grow like it's nobody's biz and yet I have zero will to do anything about them. And yes my poor delicate silks bear the brunt of my snaggy nails. I'm staring at a particularly hacked off looking nail digit as I type....

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  9. Sewing doesn't ruin my nails... being a barista does. My hands always looks a little sketchy - coffee dust, dried up skin from constant washing, and broken nails. Oh well! Having a nail file like this handy might soften the blows.

    I like this series. Can't wait to see what tool you highlight next!

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  10. Ooh purity! I just wreck hose with my nails. A LOT!

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  11. My nails are horribly thin...I can't even blame sewing on the sad state of my nails. They've always looked awful unless I put a lot of time and effort into them - like, every night before bed! Which I wouldn't mind doing with this little beauty! And I've always been a sucker for anything with crystal in the name.

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  12. I have definitly got giggling, and the comment "you are making me work really hard" at the Nail salon. I actually have only gotten my nails done a handful of times, once for a sweet sixteen birthday party of a friend, for my prom, and then twice as a bridesmaid. I usually have to keep them short because I am always getting into some kind of nail destroying project. Sewing only being one of the offenders.

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  13. My nails grow like weeds because I make my own oils with different essential oils and carrier oils. But, sewing doesn't make my hands look bad, it's the jobs I always work. I do, however, polish my nails if I am going out somewhere to cover up the hideous-ness!

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  14. I'm lucky that my nails naturally are very obedient and grow strong (not tough) and slightly rounded but they grow so quickly to the breaking point and I use my nails as tools that I always end up with a crack spoon pinky nail. And that snags at everything b/c I think, "oh, if I cut it, I'd need to file it and I've only got the metal file in my penknife" until it cracks off finally. That's during the winter. In the summer, as an archaeologist, you can bet they are massacres.

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  15. my nails are at the moment painted blue.. royal blue, to be precise.. i'm sort of a nail polish maniac, have at least 40 different shades of nail polish.. i've also never been to manicure in my lifetime, it's kind of what i want to do on my own (hm.. like pretty much everything).. have to make sure my nail look nice, even while i'm digging up skeletons (my coworkers sort of make jokes about that all the time, yellow nails are the most popular), or climbing europe's highest peak

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  16. Especially now that I'm 9-5ing it in a scenic paint shop my hands are scary. I've never owned a nail file but they are totally handy and this one sounds like a winner. Mine are always getting little chips that catch on fabric. I hope I win it!
    Also, you notice I NEVER have fancy nails in my photos. I stick firm to my conviction that nail polish is probably not only toxic for you, producing it is SO incredibly bad for the environment for something so unnecessary.

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  17. I just try to not have any photos where my nails are obvious. ;-) They're not bad (have to keep my nails short and smooth these days, as a little baby keeps wanting to chew on my fingers), but I do sometimes wish I was the sort of person who had lovely manicured hands with non-chipped nail polish and nails all the same length.... *sigh* Maybe one day, when I grow up..... ;-)

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  18. my nails look fine in the winter, but as soon as the warm weather hits, i'm out in my garage working on my race car! you can imagine the state of my nails after working elbow-deep in grease and dirt for the weekend. hmmm...perhaps that's why i don't get much sewing done during the summer.

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  19. My nails are not pretty at all!!!

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  20. My nails are weak, flimsy and flexible!! :( Because of this NO polish stays on for more than 1 day. Whenever I wear polish it is usually a subtle color so the chips aren't quite as noticeable. Sewing hasn't made them any worse, although there are more frequent pin pokes on my fingers since I started back up.

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  21. I go through phases where the nail polish is on and my nails look glamorous, followed by phases where I do nothing with them. Lately its been a do nothing phase. I could use a fun incentive to try to pretty my hands up again.

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  22. Of course my fingers and nails are always massacred because I intentionally poke them with the needle tips when I do handstitching. Ha-ha-ha! Could I ask you to count me in? ;)

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  23. My nails are like yours; they grow like weeds. Until a weakness is exploited, a snag forms, and the nail is torn, practically from its bed, only to begin the process again. I can't wear nail polish because it always chips within hours. Every now and then I buff my nails. They've been better since I stopped using the chalkboard at school.

    I've been looking for a glass nail file. Please pick me, oh wondrous random number generator!

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  24. Has sewing wrecked your hands? Yes lord! Are they manicured, or massacred? Definitely not manicured!

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  25. Oh man I'd love a crystal nail file!! I discovered nail stamping last year (here's my favourite mani so far, it's quite subtle: http://www.flickr.com/photos/51242962@N06/7460171466/in/photostream ) so I've suddenly got a collection of polishes, and I moisturise my hands and file my nails. My nails have never looks so good! But I hate the crappy disposable files. Blech! I've just never gotten round to getting a crystal one.
    And I knit and sew, so having snaggy nails is very very BAD!!! So I keep 'em smooth :)

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  26. Please don't include me in the giveaway, because I already have a glass nail file, and they last forever! (Well, likely until dropped.) I just wanted to post to sing their praises.
    My sister gave me a travel-size glass file, with a sheath for safe-keeping. I love it so much! I never used files before because I would always end up with snaggy bits or it just took too long. The glass one is all clean and smooth and fast and dandy...
    Now if I could just find a similarly easy solution for moisturizing my hands in the winter. I really fail femininity class there; I either forget or don't want to get lotion grease all over everything I touch next, and there's no way I'm sitting still for ten minutes to let lotion soak in.

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  27. Got a quick unpick stuck in my middle finger and it blew up like a balloon. Had to have 2 rounds of antibiotics to clear it up. Crikey! So yes, sewing has ruined my hands.

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  28. I have regular nail files lying about all over the place so a crystal one would really help!

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  29. My nails went through a crappy flaky breaking stage when I was a teen, but they've become quite hardy in the last decade, and grow quickly. And while I'm not a makeup person, I love painting my nails (my favourite is a light emerald green that only seems to be made by those cheapo generic nail polish makers). Sewing has never wrecked my nails or hands, but I have had my nails grow too long to be able to sew - do you know how ridiculous it is when your nails get to the point that you can't pick up a pin you've dropped on the table? Because I do.

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  30. I cut my nails very short. I don't think they suffer much from sewing; but my hands do. All those pins and needles do prick at times... and the occasional handsewing of several layers of fabric (or leather - hello, handsewing summer camp accident at age six! I won't go into the gory details) does not help. And even though I cut my nails short, they do snatch at times...

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  31. fortunately i got my daddy's fingernails (a good thing, believe it or not!) so they are strong and nicely shaped. of course the sewing and general family upkeep of cooking and dish washing means they stay short. i'm always in need of a nail file!

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  32. I have to admit, I'm a nail gal. I spend too much time filing, cutting cuticles, moisturizing, and painting me nails (yes, I said me). I credit it to the fact that my nails stare at me while I'm sewing and I can't "let them go."

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  33. My nails are a pitiful sight! I make jewelry when I'm not sewing which adds to the weakened state! I would love to know what oils Deeva uses! After watching a news story just two days ago about the unsanitary conditions of some of the salons even the upscale ones, I'm going to spend more time doing my own!

    Noriecreates.wordpress.com

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    1. Actually, count me in too on wanting to know Deeva's secret...please oh wonderful-nails Deeva, read these posts and answer our call for aid! :)
      Mugsy

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    2. I make body oils with jojoba, evening primrose, and vitamin e drops and then I mix different essential oils in them. It's always a different mixture, but my nails are much stronger than they used to be.

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    3. Thank you so much! I'll have to try Almond oil instead of vitamin e (darn this Celiac, most vit e oils are wheat-based), but this sounds so easy. I even have some great essential oils to play with!
      Deeva, you're my nail hero! *lol*

      Love,
      Mugsy

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    4. You should check out the Now 100% Natural E Liquid, it says it doesn't contain wheat gluten.

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  34. Sewing has not wrecked my hands, however, that is not to say that they aren't already garbage. This is what happens: If I ignore my nails they grow super long and beautiful (albeit a bit flimsy), but the VERY MOMENT that I notice and decide "Hmmm I should take care of these" is the moment that one of them snags right at the base of the nail and that's it. Done. They all have to be cut now. So I don't bother. I keep them short and I rarely paint them. So thanks for the giveaway, but I'm just commenting, no need to be entered to win a nail file that will just taunt me! haha

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  35. As a recovering nail biter, I am perpetually repainting my nails, so they're doing fine. My skin, on the other hand, is suffering from pin nicks.

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  36. Ha..my hands are a wreck. Not all from sewing, but my nains are the least of my worries....last week I snipped my finger instead of my thread and bled all over my work in progress....

    I also have teeny hands and the smallest nails EVER so I can't paint them without making a mess.....falsies are a whole different story, having to buy 'teenager' nails..FFS. And...AND...last time I wore false nails my spatial awareness failed me and I almost overlocked one..always fun trying to prise twin needles from your nail, oh yes it is..... :D

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  37. Dahlink, my hands are massicreed! *LOL* Actually, I have failrly decent nails, but they split and flake...and my hands are always dry - thank goodness for jumbo / family sized bottles of St. Ives on sale! Yep, that's body lotion I use on my hands (and on skin in general). Why, you ask? Because, miracle of miracles, it's gluten-free!! I'm a Celiac, and I need to watch EVERYTHING I handle or I might react to it. Besides, the scent doesn't interfere with my gin...
    Anywho, lace or anything yummy like that is always getting caught on me - guess I'm way more attractive than I thought! But a lovely glass file would be so nice to solve my catchy-nails problems - and would make an excellent cocktail stirring device when clean! So many uses! ;)

    Love,
    Mugsy

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  38. I totally hear you on the dead nail dust. I mean, ewwww doesn't even start to cover it! I'm not sure how much sewing has wrecked my nails because after years of playing sports they already looked pretty neglected, especially by Southern standards. For the life of me I can't help but chip my polish ASAP. My cuticles are pretty decent however but that's completely due to the Burt's Bees cuticle cream. Now I feel sewing is a good excuse for the semi sorry shape my nails are in. No surprise I never have a nail file on me which surprises my dad to no end. Apparently he thought I was raised better...

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  39. My hands are ruined from sewing, namely pressing. So so many burns. Although once I did sew into my fingertip which was incredibly painful. Luckily I was making something in black so the blood didn't ruin my dress!

    I would love that crystal nail file, and boy would I wash it!

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  40. I always have painted nails, but they do tend to be chipped and peeling for a looooong time between re-painting. I almost never bother with a proper manicure, though, I just hastily trim them so I don't have evil talons sticking out the end of my fingers. The first manicure I ever had was on my wedding day...

    Whoop, this New Zealander is happy to be included in giveaways :)

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  41. Heh, I've always been too clumsy for painted nails of any kind, and once I started teaching science it got worse...and now that I've added on sewing and crafting in general, I'm just doing too many horrible things to my hands to make a manicure worth it! Seriously, one time I got one since I was a bridesmaid, and a day later it looks like crap. I actually use a nail file not for my nails, though, but for filing cable ties for boning!

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  42. Fancy painted nails + derby = no dice. Curse you hobbies that ruin my awesomeness. Though this crystal file idea intrigues me...

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  43. I would love to win this for my sister, she has the most gorgeous nails. I on the other hand am a nail biter, what can i say, I got issues.

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  44. I would love this file for my sewing room! Between handling paper at my day job, yarn for crochet and knitting, and fabric for my true passion, my hands are a mess. Thanks! Love, love the way you posted your last creation on MSN, it was very creative.

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  45. My nails wax and wane. They'll be long and strong for a while, then become brittle and weak. I usually just enjoy them when they're strong and try to keep the sharp bits filed off when they're not. Love, love, love the crystal nail file! You have the best toys!

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  46. Sewing itself hasn't ruined my nails- that's a job for the horse that thinks he's a pocket-sized pony. I don't even know why I try to have anything other than nubby short nails. One visit to the barn and some bit of leather or a particularly stubborn muddy spot is going to break off a piece of nail.

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  47. My nails are a mess. They have always been a mess. Sewing does contribute, but it is definitely NOT the reason. People have referred to my nails as 'paper nails' as they are so thin and tear so easily. Maybe a crystal nail file is the answer!

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  48. ah yes. Pitiful fingernails here. Hope I win.

    sweetiesuzy@aol.com

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  49. Ooh is it still Tuesday in America or am I too late to the party? I had no idea such a magical implement existed... my hands are a mess - I've never had a manicure because I don't think I could face those judgemental eyes over the paper masks...

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i thankya truly for taking the time to comment, i love a good conversation-- and hope you know my thanks are always implied, if not always written!