We’re excited to present a new line of textile jewelry made by our partner in Mexico, El Hombre Sobre La Tierra (HST), which works on sustainable development projects with Mayan women in the Yucatan. Today, most Maya live in poor conditions, education levels remain low, and cultural norms limit women’s abilities to own land and work outside the home. The women working with HST’s income generation program are adept at the centuries-old embroidery tradition for which Mayan communities across Mexico are renown. But, they needed to expand their product line, and our clients love jewelry! So, we paired HST with volunteer designer Alessandra Plasa who is the founder of another fair trade organization, Via Nativa Imports, Inc, to create a new line of embroidered textile jewelry.  Alessandra usually works in wood, but take one look at the jewelry and see that her design talents transcend her medium. HST and Alessandra communicated via e-mail about possible jewelry designs and were able to fine-tune the products remotely. We love seeing such an amazing final product come from this successful collaboration!  The women of HST have harnessed their traditional embroidery skills to create textile jewelry that is beautiful, fashionable, and helps support themselves and their families. Check out our website to see what all the excitement is about and stay tuned for more styles in the coming months! Find our new textile jewelry here:  http://bit.ly/jnTFv5   [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_ofpW9xJI0&feature=youtu.be]