When Kendall Vanderlip moved to Innisfil in 2019, she knew she was going to love it.
Before moving, she was living in a rental apartment in Toronto and wanted to escape the city life in exchange for a simpler, quieter lifestyle. It was the small-town charm that really drew her to Innisfil which reminded her of her hometown Paris, Ontario.
"I needed to get out of the city and have a place to garden and be creative, and Innisfil was a place that offered that for me," she said. "I absolutely love it."
Kendall has a full-time job in Vaughan and started her side hustle 'Natural Feel Design' of all-natural art, greeting cards, jewellery and bath and body care products using plants from her garden.
She started the business this past summer after receiving encouragement from friends about her artwork that she would post online.
"It kind of snowballed from there," she said.
"I've always been very creative," she said, noting the downtime during the pandemic helped propel her into entrepreneurship.
"I like to keep busy so it gives me something to do while I can't really do anything else, and has given me a purposeful outlet to my creativity," she said.
Vanderlip has planted over 70 species in her garden that she uses in her creations.
"I love gardening and when I moved to Innisfil I immediately started planting," she said
Chamomile, cedar and mulberry are just some of her favourites to use when making her products.
"The aspect of being able to make things for myself and knowing that I can plant a seed and make it into a product" is what she enjoys most about creating.
When it comes to making the products she tries to keep things simple, using a crockpot and hand blender when making up batches of new bath and body care products like lip balms, shampoos and moisturizers.
Because her products don't have any preservatives in them, she has them all made to order, each one with a shelf life of around three to six months.
She is also environmentally conscious about how her products are packaged, using all compostable and reusable materials, like jars and biodegradable boxes.
Vanderlip is still sorting out logistics for selling her products online and for now, sells to family, friends and followers on social media.
She is grateful for the response she has received so far from the Innisfil community.
"It's been overwhelming, there has been a lot of interest locally," she said, noting she uses a lot of local suppliers for some of her ingredients for her bath and body care products.
For her jewellery, she uses pressed pieces of plants from her garden or the outdoors and puts them in resin to create pendants. Some examples include a mushroom chain necklace and juniper earrings.
Looking ahead to the planting season, she is thinking about selling gardening supplies online, arranging for curbside pickup from her house for local residents, depending on the state of the pandemic.
To learn more visit her Instagram account @naturalfeel.design or website here.
