In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been sensing a vibe for handmade. An impulse that violently draws away from the mundaneness of cookie-cutter, lackluster jewelry designs that are out there these days. If it isn’t a typical overworked look that’s screaming out at you from fashion magazines as the hot new accessory worn by so and so in Hollywood, it’s a design that’s been copied from somewhere, mass-produced and sold at H&M for a price that makes you have to wonder how little the workers who toil away at the factories must get paid to piece it together.

Sorry, but resin plastic cuffs at Celine and Fendi crystal embellished brass rings? Has jewelry sunk with the downfall of the economy? Don’t get me wrong, I think resin, crystals and brass are excellent materials for certain types of jewelry, but the way those luxury fashion brands market their products rips the soul right out of jewelry. The industry desperately needs to switch gears to become one that provides jewelry with more integrity, more spirit, more originality and lively stories behind each piece.

I believe a return to handmade may be the very answer, and encourage you to seek out the real jewelers, the true metalsmiths and artisans out there designing and creating real jewelry with passion and meaning. Jewelry that is neither materialistic nor superficial, just genuine and meaningful.

I recently stumbled upon a fabulous online community founded in Brooklyn, NY – Etsy. The Etsy community spans the globe with buyers and sellers coming from more than 150 countries around the world. Its mission is to enable people to make a living making things, and to reconnect makers with buyers. Their vision is to build a new economy and present a better choice: Buy, Sell, and Live Handmade. Well, Etsy, you have my vote.

Look at it as a fair trade marketplace with awesome, unique handmade products made not by individuals living in developing countries, but by creative minds living in over-industrialized nations.

It’s about time.