My story begins with beads and a challenge...
Hello, I’m Kat of KatKayeDesigns!
I started collecting beads in high school because I was drawn to the bright colors, interesting shapes, and intriguing textures beads had to offer. I kept up my collection in college, along with creating mixed media bottle cap art that I dubbed "Kat’s Caps". I decorated every available surface of my bedroom with Kat’s Caps and spent hours expanding, sorting, and reorganizing my bead collection.
My friend Albert, who would later become my husband, learned of my excessive bead hoarding and challenged me to turn my Kat’s Caps-making skills into creating jewelry for our friends in church. Not one to forfeit a challenge, I bought a wire jewelry design book and got to work making pieces for my friends’ life events. The Sister Jewelry Project was born! I created three unique pieces per friend and surprised each girl with a handmade takeout box of jewelry to match her personality and style. From there, I picked up more jewelry-making skills from books, videos, and trial-and-error. I then began creating pieces to match my favorite outfits and soon amassed a nice assortment of jewelry items.
In 2013, my older sister Jennifer opened her online ceramics shop, TheEnsorcelledMoth on Etsy, and inspired me to open KatKayeDesigns in 2014. That first year, I experimented with my brand, style, and techniques to figure out who I was as an artisan and shop owner. Since then, I have improved and grown in my jewelry artistry, but my designs continue to reflect my enjoyment of color, texture, and intriguing details.
Each piece is handmade with meticulous care, and I take pride in creating custom orders. I look forward to working with my customers to design more delightful, personal pieces and would love to make your next favorite jewelry piece.
