Everyone is into “local” these days. Surely you’ve heard of the locavore movement that encourages people to buy food produced nearby their home? Buying locally grown produce and cheese, meat, bread, etc is a great way to reduce all of the pollution created by transporting food long distances. It’s also a wonderful way to help out small family farms that are right in your neck of the woods.

Buying locally created artwork and crafts has some of the same benefits. It’s a great way to support American craftspeople and artisans in this down economy. It’s also a good way to find high quality goods (no shoddy assembly line junk shipped to you courtesy of the People’s Republic here!) that are unique and have personality.

Here are 10 Fullerton-based artists who create great t-shirts, jewelry, pocketbooks, toys, and more…

The Head Shop

The Head Shop has a wonderful talent with silk screening. Everything is done by hand, from drawing the designs to creating the screens to printing them on shirts, bags and aprons. Fullerton peeps will especially love the “Going Downtown Fullerton” series, though I think my fav is the Day of the Dead Head shirt.

Tinkerella

Considering that Fullerton is just a few miles up Harbor Blvd. from the Happiest Place on Earth, it’s not surprising that it has inspired the creative work of Tinkerella. She makes the cutest–and I mean CUTEST–costumes and outfits for kids that are all Disney inspired.

Quiet Doing

If irony and retro were to have children, Quite Doing‘s great iPod cases, wallets, shirts, and pocket books are what they’d look like. I mean, who wouldn’t love an iPod case that has a record player on the outside? I also love her Qwerty Pocketbook.

Katrina’s Jewel

The beautiful jewelry in the Katrina’s Jewel shop is about as handmade as it comes. All of the metal fabrication and finishing, all the fused glass cabochons, all the kiln-firing and annealing is done by hand. She creates beautiful and unique rings, necklaces, and earrings. I especially love this turquoise pendant.

Sweet Perversion Designs

I really love the stationary sets from the Sweet Perversion shop. Need to say thank you with a sense of humor? They’ve got you covered. Congratulate a friend on her pregnancy? Let’s hope the pregnancy hormones have calmed down. But even if you’re not that bold (crazy?), they have plenty of nice paper products (moving and baby announcements, Valentines Day cards, etc) and charming pocket mirrors that are sure to offend no one.

White Wax Flower

It’s hard not to smile when you read that the artist behind White Wax Flower describes her style as “somewhere between French Chic, Farmhouse, and Nautical.” Her sweet line drawings of party dresses, automobiles, and sail boats all have their various parts labeled in French. I can think of a number of different rooms (baby’s room, sun room, breakfast nook…) that would be improved by her charming prints.

DigADig

If you are a mommy to a stylish little girl, then DigADig is definitely a shop you will want to bookmark. Her ribbon barrettes are very cute, but the vintage Vera napkins turned into little shirt dresses are even cuter.

Form Fire Glassworks

Form Fire Glassworks makes beautiful, modern beads out of unique, and sometimes exotic art glass. I love that the listings tell you exactly about every part of the materials and how the beads were made. That’s one of the great things about something handmade, you have the opportunity to learn that the glass used is from Italy, or that a particular set of beads was created while the bead was created by making a “hand pulled twistie.”

Christine Bee Luxury Knits

All this rain and cold weather we’ve been having has given me ample opportunity to bust out my scarves and gloves, but they don’t hold a candle to the beautiful works of art knitted up by Christine Bee. Check out their fingerless gloves made out of merino wool with a lace pattern. This vintage-inspired mohair scarf looks pretty cozy too.

Asher Jasper

Let’s say you’re best friend’s kid is having her third birthday party next month, and you really want to give him something unique and natural and fun. And let’s say you really want to buy something handmade and local. Asher Jasper to the rescue! What little boy wouldn’t love a plush monster that he can stuff in his pocket and whip out whenever a cootie-carrying girl passes by?