Our Story
Everything is AO Clay
In one of Amy's earliest pottery classes, someone asked how she was doing. Without missing a beat, she said: "Everything is AO Clay." It was the kind of offhand remark that sticks. Years later, when she and Brian were building a brand together, the name chose itself.
How it started
Amy has been making ceramics for over ten years. For their first Christmas together, she made Brian a gift — a handmade ceramic San Diego magnet. He put it on the fridge and kept finding himself staring at it.
It reminded him of something from his childhood. His mother had collected a magnet from every family trip they ever took. Every state, every city, every adventure. The fridge was a map of everywhere they'd been together.
Brian asked Amy a simple question: had she ever thought about making magnets for all the other states?
AOClay was born in 2025 from that question — and from the belief that a small handmade object can carry a surprisingly large amount of meaning.
Made by hand in San Diego
Every AOClay piece is made in our ceramics studio at Liberty Station in the heart of San Diego, California. Not outsourced. Not manufactured. Made by hand, one piece at a time, by Amy and Brian.
The process is unhurried by design:
The clay is sourced from California and rolled out on a slab roller. Each piece is individually cut into its state shape by hand.
The drying and firing takes time — each piece is dried, then bisque fired to set the form before anything else happens.
The glazing is done when your order comes in. Every heart is hand-applied with a brush. Every color is chosen by you. This is why each piece is genuinely unique — two magnets of the same state in the same color will never look exactly alike.
The glaze firing varies by product. Magnets and ornaments are glaze fired once. Coasters go through two glaze firings for extra durability. After each firing, every piece is individually inspected for quality.
The finishing is where the details live. Neodymium magnets are hand-applied to the back of each ceramic magnet. Each ornament receives a hand-cut length of AOClay's signature grosgrain ribbon, tied by hand. Each coaster gets felt pads applied to the bottom, one by one.
From raw California clay to finished piece, each item takes between 4 and 10 days to make depending on the product. We think that's worth knowing.
The gift for someone who still calls it home
Most of the people who buy from AOClay are buying for someone else — a friend who moved away from Austin, a sister who still misses Chicago, a colleague who relocated but talks about Portland like they never left.
A ceramic magnet personalized with someone's city isn't just a souvenir. It's a way of saying: I know where you're from, and it matters.
We make magnets, coasters, and ornaments for all 50 states and Washington D.C., each personalized with the city of your choice and available in 11 colors. Every piece ships anywhere in the United States, with free shipping on orders of $50 or more.
Amy and Brian
Amy is the maker. Brian is her partner in life and in business — the one who stared at that first San Diego magnet long enough to ask the right question.
AOClay is a small operation by design. Every piece that leaves Liberty Station has been touched by Amy's hands. That's not a marketing line. It's just the truth of how we work.
AOClay is based in San Diego, California. All ceramics are made in our studio at Liberty Station. Clay is sourced from California. Ships to all 50 states and Washington D.C.