Hi, I’m Lloyd

Welcome to Lloyd Handmade. Here’s a little bit of my backstory.

I’m a multimedia jewellery artist (who also likes to create other things) from Melbourne Australia.

I have been making jewellery since I was a child, but started taking it more seriously back in 2020 when I picked up beading again.

As a young child, I used to work with a lot of beads and wire. Just before I got my ears pierced at the start of 2008, I went to Salamanca Market on a holiday where I bought many beads, and started to make my own earrings. I also used to collect a lot of shells, rocks and sea glass which I hoped to turn into jewellery one day.

In high school, I was fortunate enough to be introduced to metalsmithing. I had no idea that was how jewellery was made before that - it was a mystery for me. I learnt a few basics like how to make jump rings and solder small pieces with a blow torch. I was hooked and ever since then I had been waiting to save up to buy myself some tools to get started. It took me over 10 years until that eventually happened.

During late high school I took a long break from my creative endeavours due to focusing on academia. This included putting my jewellery making aside.

Once I stopped studying due to health issues, I slowly started picking up my creative hobbies again like beading. I picked up an old unfinished project from years before. This was my first pair of coral earrings which I made for my sister. I finished that pair and I was back to beading. Over the next couple of years I worked on creating my own style of coral earrings, and then also learned some other techniques to expand what I could make.

In 2022 I opened an Instagram and Etsy shop for my creations under the name Highland Creations. At the time I only did seed bead jewellery but now I’m venturing into metalsmithing again.

At the moment, I’m still learning how to set stones and things, but I will be gradually working metal into my work. I aim to create mixed media earrings, pendants and rings. I’ve worked really hard to get my health to this point of being able to work again and open this business.