The History

Klae Design Co. was born one evening in a tiny one bedroom apartment, with two best friends having a craft night before going to see My Fair Lady at a local community theatre (The Theatre Company of BCS).  One of us, Elsie, had seen a friend with a pair of clay earrings and wanted to try her hand at making them, and her best friend, Ariel, jumped in too.

Once we started making them, we couldn't stop. That first night alone, we made over 30 pairs of earrings and were almost late to the show. You should have seen us racing from the kitchen to the bathroom mirror, holding our new creations to our ears, jumping up and down (quite literally in my case) with excitement. 

Over the next few weeks, we continued making earrings, our minds racing with ideas. We had dreams about earrings. We would run into the house after running an errand or going to class, grab a scrap piece of paper, and sketch out an idea that had popped into our heads. We were almost obsessed, itching to make things, with never enough time to create it all. 

Our husbands asked what we were going to do with all of the earrings we were making....what were we going to do? We didn't want to stop, but we had over 100 pairs of earrings. They told us we should try to sell them. But would people buy them? we wondered. We doubted. We debated. And then, we decided to go for it. And Klae was born. 

The Name

Our name comes from our initials. Ariel's first name is Katelyn, and Elsie's legal name is Lauren. K - L - A - E. Put together, they are a unique way of spelling our main material, clay, and should be pronounced as such. 

The Makers 

As we mentioned before, the Lord blessed us with the gift of friendship, something we both cherish. We met performing in Seussical at that same local theatre company. While we are opposites in some ways, we are the perfect match over all. 

Ariel is mild-mannered, kind, completely Type A, has strong morals, a realist, and can be sarcastic. She grew up just outside of Houston, TX - a born and raised proud Texan. Her college sweetheart, AJ, and she, have been married for 5 years. While she majored in English at Sam Houston State, Klae is now her full time job. She is also a full-time stay at home mom to her daughter, Piper. 

Elsie is sassy, energetic, a dreamer, disorganized, and over-the-top dramatic. She attended the University of Alabama where she majored in Outdoor Education, and then pursued a masters in Recreation, Park, and Tourism at Texas A&M. She is married to her love, Ray, and they currently live in Indiana. She works full time for an athleisure company, Gold Hinge, as their marketing and brand manager. She loves being outside, quality time with people she loves, and musical theatre. 

When we aren't in the studio, you can probably find us drinking Waterloo, cooking with our husbands, and playing board games. Above all else, we both love Jesus and hope that through this business we can use the gifts He gave us. Thank you for being a part of our story.