About Me

 Hi there! I'm Charlotte Burkhart, creator of LSD Jewellery (Short for Little Sister Designs).

I have been making and selling jewellery since I was 11. I started with Fimo and progressed to paua (abalone) jewellery, and bead jewellery, then my obsession with and collection of gemstone beads grew. In 2009 I finally plucked up the courage to learn metal smithing, and I have never looked back. I opened my etsy store in the same year, but started to get my jewellery fully off the ground late 2010. I mostly made jewellery from human teeth and Human hair. I also concentrated on acrylic and silver cut out badges, and antique photo pendants.

 It naturally progressed to me using animal bones and claws and incorporating them in to my jewellery. All the animal bones I use are ethically sourced and I would never harm a living being for my jewellery. My latest foray has been in wax carving - where you carve a piece out of wax, and either get a mold made of it (For made to order pieces) or get it cast straight in metal (these pieces are one offs - hence the higher price point for OOAK items as when you get a mold its easier to reproduce and the carving is a one off thing, whereas OOAK pieces all the work and time goes in to this one piece). 

 I draw a lot of inspiration from nature and animals and their fragile mortality. I am also inspired by fantasy novels like Harry Potter and a Song of ice and fire (Game of thrones).

 I live in Wellington, New Zealand in an apartment with my boyfriend Andy and two beautiful cats. I work from home in my cramped studio (Which has sacrificed having a dining area, but to me its totally worth it!.), and dream to one day have my own proper studio set up, with all the hard core jeweller gear! 

 I enjoy the processes and love finishing, setting stones and perfecting each piece. I love gemstones and have an overwhelming amount of them hoarding away that i would have to live several lifetimes to be able to make enough jewels with them all! I hope to start selling some of my cabochons on this site, to other budding jewellers! One of My favourite things to do is listen to audio books while working on jewellery (how lucky am I that i get to do that for a living!?). Im also an avid film fan, and love horror, even the bad stuff! I absolutely love absurd humour, and mix that with horror and I'm set! 

Jewellery is the perfect occupation for me, as I have suffered over half my live with severe Crohns Disease, which has been very debilitating and draining mentally and physically. Ive had many surgeries and lots of complications due to them which has sucked but i am so glad i can at least do what i love from the comfort of my home! I used to want to be a Special FX makeup artist - but when i experienced a day on set (work experience organised by my talented sister who works in the film industry) i realised it would never work for me, as the hours are crazy. I am in a sense incredibly lucky that I re-discovered Jewellery, and can do this for a living!

 Thanks for reading about me and if you have any questions or would like to query me about custom orders, click on the contact button!

Charlotte x