psst...have you heard about Etsy?

Etsy is your place to buy and sell handmade goods. It's a tight little community of only 550,000 registered users, 60,000 of whom are individual artists selling more than 700,000 of their handmade creations.

My shop on Etsy (shameless plug) features unique jewelry using sterling silver, natural gemstones, seashells, leather and glass. Designs are organic in nature with vintage, Asian and oceanic elements. But there are tons of other artist types - potters, watercolor artists, knitters, sewers, candle makers, woodworkers, glass artists - to name a few. Also, this is the place to go if you're looking for a very specific piece - try searching "purple people eater" and you'll see what I mean.

It's super easy to create an account on Etsy - which you need to do in order to buy or sell. But you don't have to give any personal info if you don't want to; you can even be totally anonymous. Once registered, you're able to use all the cool features like chatting in the forums, learning about events and how-tos in The Storque, shopping by categories and marking your favorites for later reference.

Speaking of favorites, above are some of mine. This gives you an idea of the quality and variety of items out there. Enough with this, just go already. You won't be sorry!!

So, go to Etsy now and journey to the land of handmade and find out how you can shop by a specific shade of any color, by a geographic location or by time travel! And no, Rod Sterling is not your guide.