All right, today I'm so excited to have Bethany
McLaughlin, who is the owner of Bex Design
Co. And when we say Bex Design Co., we mean
she does a little bit of everything. How you
doing? Good. How are you, Tracy? I'm good. Now,
OK, she knits. She does crochet. She does landscape
design and landscape as well. Yes. And writing
and drawing. You do everything. All the creative
things, yes. You are very creative. Thank you.
Now, what came first, your landscaping or your
yarn work? Like as a business, you mean? Or in
general? So landscaping, I started as a summer
job at a garden center when I was 16. And then
I just didn't really know what I wanted to do
after high school. I was a pretty shy and introverted
person. But I come from, I have my aunts on my
mom's side, they love gardening and flowers.
My grandfather was a florist in the Netherlands,
so it's in my blood. And yeah, so I went to St.
Clair College and took the landscape program
there. And yeah, so I just sort of blossom from
there. And as far as crochet, my mom taught myself
and my sisters and my brother to crochet when
we were kids. Yeah, and it's just something that
stayed with me. wow so you got a landscape right
from the netherlands holy yeah yeah that's awesome
and your brother crochets he used to i don't
think he's kept on bottom but hey you never know
there is that one guy that uh ron strong that
does crochet socks or knit socks that is yeah
i've seen him on to that on instagram yeah he
knits Yeah, I think it's knitting. Yeah. Yes.
I remember seeing him in the Olympics going to
you. You also do pattern design for your knitting
and crochet. Yeah. Yeah. I have a couple patterns
that I've released just on Etsy. So like for
knitted hat, I have like a giant mushroom pattern.
I think that's what a lot of people know me for
is my mushrooms. Right. So yeah, yeah. I love
those mushrooms. They're so easy. Yeah, that's
right. You got one. Now, what do you prefer knit
or crochet? um I like crochet because it's faster
and you can like finish things quicker but knitting
for certain things especially like like cable
knits like the like braided patterns those I
just think it's looks smoother in knit rather
than crochet so it definitely depends on the
project for sure you do a lot of markets yes
I have done a lot of market now what do you find
is the bestseller The best seller? I mean, it
depends on the season, obviously. But like in
the fall, like pumpkins, I make like little knit
and crochet pumpkins. And those like, I can't
make enough. So in summer, like everybody likes
just those little like plushies, like if it's
like a little animal or a little mushroom or
something like that. That's cool. Yeah, I can't
believe those came back. Yeah. Yeah. I'm waiting
to come back that the Barbie clothes. I have
books of. Do you really? Yeah, for my gram. And
I don't know how she did it. And it was like
insane. But then I found I had bought a book
years ago of crocheting fancy doll dresses like
Gibson bride doll. Oh, yeah, yeah. But with those
little tiny like zero zero those super tiny required.
Want to do it, but I don't know if my hands Oh,
yeah for sure Now you do landscaping now, is
that your full -time day job is like the landscape
design so you do freelance. Yes Now who do you
find, is it the landscapers that contact you
or the homeowners that? Both actually. A lot
of landscape companies don't have an in -house
designer so they'll just contract out like the
the landscape design and then do the install
themselves but I also do it for homeowners who
want to do the project themselves but they just
don't know like how to put it all together, how
to make like their space flow or even like what
plants are Good, you know for which site? So
yeah, definitely a mix of both. Well horticulture
itself It is hard because you have certain plants
that do good in Sun and certainly don't But I
found that some that they say all shade they
do well in. Yeah, it just depends on the site
There's a lot of variables the type of soil you
have if it's mulch or if you have stone Even
if there's like a lot of concrete surrounding
that'll throw up a lot of reflected heat So yeah
Definitely site -specific. Do you also do vegetable
gardens? Yeah, I have. I've helped people. integrate,
you know, fruit bushes directly into the landscaping,
that's like a kind of a huge thing that's really
starting to take off. That's good. Instead of
separating it out, right? Especially if you have
small spaces, you can just integrate it right
into your landscaping. Yeah, because I remember
growing up, like my great aunt in Lucan, she
had this huge property and she would have like
mulberry bushes and raspberry bushes that were
on her property. But then she had her vegetable
garden down the street. Oh, really? Yeah. So
that was just, again, part of her landscape.
But it was it was really nice to just go out
there in the morning and pick some. Yeah, yeah,
for sure. And then like people don't understand
there's certain plants that you can't put together
because they don't do well. Yeah. And then there's
ones that do well together like marigolds and
even lavender is good at repelling insects. So
it's actually good to surround like your vegetable
gardens with those plants. Oh, for sure. I have
lavender and I usually have marigolds. I haven't
planted anything at this year because this year
it's been a little mixed bag weather wise. So
my lavender is just like just which is starting.
But I think my oregano finally died this year.
Oh really? My chives have already flowered and
I've had to cut them back and the chamomile and
the catnip. are going crazy, but I'm not sure
if I'm going to lose my lemon thyme, which is
really nice too, because I couldn't find any
lemon balm last year. So I did lemon thyme. It's
a nice substitution. Yeah. I mean, some things
are slow to come out, so you never know. I'm
hoping. It still could come. Yeah. Yeah. I know
one of the lavender plants for sure died. And
it's like, oh. I don't like the spiked lavender.
I like the real lavender where everything on
it smells really nice. Oh, yeah, I like the English
lavender. It's heavenly. Oh, yeah, I love it.
It's probably one of my favorite plants, I think.
Same here. And it's surprising how easy it is,
but it's not easy to seed. I haven't been successful
seeding. No, that's more difficult. But it is
a good plant for something. It actually kind
of thrives on neglect, right? So it doesn't like
a lot of water, that sort of thing. So now do
you, how was your yard? Depends on the time of
year for sure. In spring when it's, you know,
like gardening season right in the thick of it,
it gets a little out of hand, but yeah, I know.
I used to have a huge garden. It was wonderful.
And then it was like, a little much yeah okay
yeah um and that's definitely like a trend like
a lot of people are looking for lower maintenance
gardens um so you're not alone in that that's
for sure uh yeah but things like you know like
ornamental grasses um excuse me evergreens they
grow a lot slower um right so those are also
good for low maintenance yeah um so i definitely
have those and at my house i also have a lot
of plants that can really fend for themselves
because or like that thrive on neglect because
because especially in spring, I'm just too busy
to be out there in the garden a lot. I used to
have this, it was huge. It was probably about
four or five feet wide, and it wrapped right
around the house garden, and I had a mixture
of annuals and perennials, and it bloomed all
year long, and my mom would say, how are you
getting the upright flocks? I could get it to
bloom a couple times a year, and I'm like, you
cut it down. just keep cutting it down, it'll
come back up. But after a year or two, my next
door neighbor, he had told me, he's like... all
of your annuals he says just leave them let them
die off and let them look ugly in the fall and
they will recede themselves yeah so for i don't
know how many years i did not have to buy any
annuals or perennials i ended up snapdragons
i because i had the mixed variety of them i ended
up with a brown one because they enter yeah they
like Yeah, it was really weird. It was a hybrid,
but it only came up the one year. Oh, that's
so cool. Because I was going to try and grab
the next year and grab the seeds, but never came
back. It was a once -in -a -lifetime fluke. That's
all right. I like having a lot of... flowers.
Now is the, what is it, the butterfly bush, is
that still popular? Because I know back when
I did it, it was a really popular plant. It is.
They have like dwarf varieties that they've come
out with, so they don't get quite as big as the
traditional ones can. But yeah, a lot of people
are definitely interested in having like, you
know, plants that'll like benefit pollinators.
There's definitely been like a huge interest
in that lately. So yeah, the butterfly bush,
butterfly weed, which is a perennial, like an
orange flower. Yeah. I didn't know about that
one. And what would be a good plant for hummingbirds?
I know they used to like the butterfly bush.
Yeah, they like those. And also anything with
like a trumpet shaped flower so that they can
like they stick their beak in there. So like
trumpet vine, Wajila. They also like Spirea.
I've seen them around those. Cardinal flowers.
So those are, yeah. Yeah, because I mean, you're
going to have some people that are going to ask,
I want to attract. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, yeah.
Now. What do you do in the winter? Do you still
do landscape? Yeah, so when fall comes around,
I have a few properties that I maintain. And
so we'll do like fall cleanup with like leaf
pickup and stuff. I also do planters. So I'll
switch my client's planters over for fall. And
then after that, we'll go into Christmas planters.
So decorating with like greens and ribbon and
all that. And then Christmas lights as well.
So that really takes me right to Christmas. Christmas
pretty much. And then, oh yeah, and I decorate
Christmas trees as well, like interior. So one
of the garden centers I worked at, Ruth Finn
Nursery. I worked there for a number of years
and they do fantabulous, like I don't know if
you've been there for Christmas or not. But yeah,
the whole store is decked out and they go into
people's homes and decorate. So that's where
I initially learned that. Yeah, so it's something,
another service. that I offer. Yeah and then.
In the winter, I do have people contact me wanting
to get a head start on their spring projects,
which is great because as soon as spring comes,
it's so busy and even for landscapers, their
springs are full before February, March comes
around. So it's great when clients know what
they want and we can plan that far ahead and
get the ball rolling and have everything ready
right for spring. So, yeah. Now, in the wintertime,
do you... Do you also make the wreaths or the
grave beds? I haven't, no. No, I haven't. It's
a lot of fun. Did you used to do that? I used
to do it when I worked at Predon, but it's been
probably about 20 years since I've done it. I'm
sure you can pick it up. I learned how to make
the fancy bows. I used to love doing that. I
loved it. It's fun. It is a lot of fun. Let your
creative juices flow. You've got to have the
creativity going everywhere. Yeah, absolutely.
I miss working in a greenhouse and starting all
of that stuff from seed, all the annuals, the
perennials. Yeah, it's nice being around plants.
Do you find it soothing? I do, yeah. Yeah, definitely.
That's what I used to tell everybody. I'd be
out there and I'd be weeding and they'd say,
doesn't it drive you crazy? It's like... No,
if you're stressed out, there's nothing better
than pulling it out of a weed. It's true. Yeah,
you get in that mental flow state or whatever.
You can say the same thing about knitting. Both
are actually really great for your mental health.
So it occupies the mind, and you have repetitive
tasks. It's definitely soothing. Oh, for sure.
Now, do you have any markets that are... coming
up this year? I do, yeah. I've signed up for
a number of them. I did one already earlier this
year. It was the Mousetrap Artist Bazaar at Walkerville
Brewery. That was fun. I missed it, I was so
upset. Yeah, that's a good time. I love that
one. And I'm doing, David Suzuki School is having
a little pop -up, so I'm gonna be a vendor there.
I think that's in June. And then just, yeah,
I haven't booked already into fall, so. Now if
people go on to Instagram or Facebook, they'll
be able to catch where you are. Yeah, usually
what I try to do is like I'll put like I'll post
in my stories like for the month like what my
markets are for that month and then I'll stick
it on like a highlight reel. Yeah, this, I just
knew I was gonna be busy this spring, so I didn't
sign up for too many. So yeah, definitely more
kind of later in the season this year. With all
the hats. Yeah, yeah. So now it's just like your
plushies. Do you also do like the bath sets?
I have in the past, like crochet like washcloths
and dishcloths and things as well. Yeah, so like
right now for crochet, it's more like custom
orders. I'll get people who like, Somebody last
week messaged me and I've made like a little
stuffy, like a plushie and then embroidered the
name of the baby on it for like a gift for her
friend. So her friend is pregnant again, so it's
gonna be like the third time. She's like, it's
a tradition now. So it's so sweet, like being
a part of that. Yeah, yeah. So I have some custom
orders and then yeah, I'll start the whole market
prep again pretty soon. So what will be your
standard market for? Market fair like what you're
gonna. Um, so I try to do like some like shopping
bags like crochet shopping bags I'll do little
plushies. They'll sell really well And granny
square totes Also Some like tank tops. I tend
to do some of those for the for the summer. So
we have right here Your granny square totes are
really cute. Thank you. Really cute. I think
they're like, yeah, what am I? Things that I
enjoy making the most I would say yeah, I used
to like making the market bags. How do you? Make
it so that it doesn't stretch to like 10 feet.
That's the thing right like it's cotton yarn
So it just does right like the handles and everything
so I started making the smaller smaller like
a little shorter because it is gonna stretch
like you could turn the wash and then it'll kind
of reshape itself, but it just Okay, nature of
the beast. Yeah, it's just going to stretch I
just found it a pain in the butt. Like I made
them and they're really nice, but then as soon
as you put two or three things in the ground.
And you can't make the the straps too small or
too long. Then it won't fit over. Okay, so you
do artwork as well? Yeah, just ever since I was
young I always loved to draw and write and in
high school I was always writing poetry and taking
art classes and just yeah hung on to it all and
and then just sort of started sharing some online
and Are you going to pull that out as something
to start selling as well? I have before actually
at the Mousetrap Artist Bazaar I've made like
just some like little prints of little like comic
book heroes or whatever that I you know sketch
out and I've sold some of those so that's fun
and yeah maybe I'm not at this season of the
year you know spring is definitely dedicated
to landscaping so I definitely work on my projects
like cyclically or or seasonally, I should say.
Yeah, and it's when winter, I'll definitely get
back into my art more. Spring is more landscaping,
and then fall is still landscaping, but more
like Christmas decor and crochet, that sort of
thing, so yeah. When you work on your baskets
or... planters. Do you do that at your house?
It depends. So some of my clients, they have
their pots there already and they're like big
concrete pots. I'll just do them right there
on site. I'll bring everything, plant them all,
fertilize water, everything. And then other ones,
like this spring I did the planters for the old
riverside BIA. So those we took out brought to
the shop and did them all up and then delivered
them all. Be a little bit messy doing them out
on the street right on the sidewalk but yeah.
A little dangerous. Yeah yeah trip hazard. Now
if somebody wanted to make a standard planter
at home do you have like formula? There is a
formula basically three parts you want a thriller
which is your kind of main focal point in the
middle and then you want what's called a filler
and that's gonna be something that grows kind
of midsize and it's gonna get nice and bushy
and then you want a spiller which is the plant
that's gonna trail out the bottom and then that'll
give you you know your height and just give you
lots of contrast and and color. Now for somebody
doing it for the first time, what would be good
plants for that? I know a geranium's usually
a go -to. Yeah, those are hardy. I mean, honestly,
it depends on the site location. So whether you're
in full sun or if you're in shade, if you have
a lot of wind, there's a lot of different variables.
So honestly, I'd say your best bet is to go to
one of the garden centers, you know, you can
look at Capona's or Anna's or... wherever your
blooming garden or whatever your favorite one
is. It's just somebody that sells quality plants
and they have knowledgeable staff and they'll
be able to really like help you with what you
want. So because you know you think you it's
about color or the look but you can buy like,
you know, a certain, you know, like a cantaloupe,
but if you have it like out in like blazing hot
sun or, you know, in a high wind area, it's just
going to get shredded and not the look you want,
so. I know people don't think about that. Yeah,
yeah. There's a lot of considerations for sure.
That was hard working in the greenhouse because
you're supposed to make up all of these for people
and it's like, yeah. Or if they come in and they're
like, I want this look with a picture, which
is great for inspiration. But yeah, you definitely
have to tweak it according to what the site conditions
are. Yeah, it's for my porch. Yeah. OK, well,
does it get signed? I think so. Yeah, yeah. Now,
if anybody wanted to get a hold of you, whether
it be for your landscape or for your craft work,
how can they do that? So far, word of mouth and
social media, and that has worked really well
for me so far. It's definitely not traditional,
I know. And then I have business cards that I'll
hand out, of course. So, I mean, maybe one day,
we'll, you know... get everything all together
under one roof or in one website. But for now,
yeah, social media, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok,
like whatever. That's how it is. Yeah, it is.
It's changed, right? It has. So much has changed.
But yeah, that's a lot of people. That's why
I share so much on social media. You don't never...
I share and you don't know how many people are
like actually watching or, cause you don't always
get engagement, right? But then for instance,
well, then you'll get somebody like down the
road being like, oh, I saw this thing that you
posted and you know, like it turns into something
down the road and yeah. Which is always really
nice. Oh yeah, it is. It's like somebody watched
it. Yeah, that connection for sure. It is nice.
Now, are you booked up for this season? For landscape?
For designs, I have a bunch on the go, so I'll
just keep booking, but I'll just start booking
later on. So for now, May is fully booked, so
I'd be booking into mid -June for landscape designs.
Yeah, planters, I'm still taking clients on for
planters. And I mean, if anybody wants their
Christmas stuff done, it's not too early to book.
So yeah, absolutely. I never, I mean, you know
darn well that in Hollywood and all the fancy
people, the rich people, they would have their
Christmas trees designed. And I never realized
it was a thing. I was shocked. It's a thing,
yeah. I'm like, oh my god. Yeah, it's crazy.
And I'm like, well, what do the kids get to decorate
all day? There's a basement. A lot of people
have more than one tree. They have their fancy
one for like, you know. It was the first time
I'd seen it. It's crazy, eh? Holy cow. And they
decorated the whole house and had the garland
going everywhere. Everything, yeah. It was beautiful,
but... I had no idea that was the thing here.
More and more people are doing it for sure because
they want that nice tree as part of their aesthetic
for their Christmas. Well, we can do the tree.
It's just doing anything in the rest of the house.
Half the time it's like, oh, we've got to do
the tree. And then forget anything else. We'll
throw out things. It just looks cluttered. mess
that kids did. That's okay. It has so much charm,
right? Well, there's no charm to it. Come on.
Oh, man. I definitely am going to call you because
we need to have a pretty... Christmas at least
once in my life. You deserve it, right? My girl
is like dollar store stuff. That's okay. You
just add to it, right? You start with like your
basic whatever and then just get like little
picks or little this and that and just make it
your own custom thing, yeah. Is there a trick
for a Christmas tree to keep dogs away from?
No, I don't know. Everybody I've seen they like
put like a little cage around it. You know what?
I said that and I remember because we had a puppy
and my husband put up a Christmas tree. I'm like,
I wasn't ready for a Christmas tree this year
because she was little. But I bought the stupidest
thing from Amazon and it's a cute little white
picket fence and it's plastic. I mean, literally,
if you blew on it, it would fall over and she
didn't even jump on it. I'm like, really? Perfect.
It works. We'll see how it goes this year, now
that she's smarter. Yeah, really. The only other...
I remember my sister putting hers, like, in a
playpen to that. That was, like, yeah. I want
to get a real treat this year, now that we don't
have the cats and my other dogs that would literally
probably pee on them. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I had
a male dog, and then I had a female dog that
shot... thought she was a male dog and she would
cock her leg and pee on trees. Oh, fun. That's
nice. Just what you want on your Christmas tree.
I have none of that anymore, so I'm thinking
maybe we can get away with it this year. Yeah.
That smell, right? Oh, it is nice. It is very
nice. And do you do wreaths as well? Like I've
decorated like outdoor wreaths. You're just like...
Do a little bit of everything. I love that. Yeah,
why not? I don't know. I've never really felt...
Some people, they always wanted to be a teacher,
this or that, and I never had that growing up.
All through high school, it's like, I could do
this or I could do that. So, like I said, I kind
of... fell into landscaping just because I happened
to already work at a garden center and I you
know had an affinity for plants and I love it
but yeah there's definitely so much more and
I don't know I don't think you know everybody's
pushed to like choose your one thing, but I don't
think you necessarily have to. I can think you
can make a success out of, you know, doing more
than one thing. Yeah. And, you know, for all
those people who don't live in one box, maybe,
right? There's opportunities. That's what I always
said. Like my son, he wanted to go down one path
and I knew it wasn't right for him. So I said,
Tiki, you're off. And he did roofing. He did
landscape design. He did a lot of stuff and I'm
the same way. I was a jack -of -all -trades.
I have so many careers and diplomas. It's insane.
But I'm still, even now, figuring out what I
want to do. Like, things change. You evolve.
Oh, absolutely. I'm trying to let people know
that it's okay if you're not happy with what
you're doing. try something new. Whether it's
a hobby or a new career. Oh absolutely I think
two people spend a lot of time you know going
down one path and then they think that has to
be their path like till the end right but I think
for me anyways it's a journey. Yeah, the whole
way. It's inspiring because, I mean, you've turned
a childhood job into a career, but you've also
turned your hobbies into careers as well. That's
another thing you hear a lot of people say well
I don't want my hobby as a career because then
I'm not going to like it. Yeah that's definitely
a risk and it can be that way sometimes for sure
obviously you know trying to get those orders
in last minute or prep for that market but you
have this going on so it can be a lot to juggle
for sure. But if it's a passion it's still going
to be there. Absolutely. for sure. Oh, that's
great. Thank you so much for being here. I actually
hear this is for you. I have a little community
art project I started. It's called the Bex birdie
project. Yes, I had all these little birdies
that I crocheted and I kind of place them around
my friend's idea. Yeah, you can see on the tag
there. There's a little QR code. So if you're
traveling anywhere, bring a Bex birdie and leave
it wherever you're traveling to and for somebody
else to find and bring it with them. I am so
glad that you brought that because I had forgot
to bring it up. Now, where have you found them?
Because we have the QR code so that we know where
they are. Yeah. So I had a friend that was traveling
to Europe, so she brought a few with her and
brought them there. And so far they've traveled
to France, Turkey, Belgium. Over in the state
is that where she dropped them off she? She dropped
it off in and she was in Belgium So and then
they kind of just gone from there so and then
since that I've had other people message me saying
hey I'm gonna go to this place if you you know
I have somebody going to Iceland and they said
well I'll bring some birdies with me if you like
and yeah, so and just kind of keep it going and
now Have you seen any in Windsor? No, not yet.
I still have to I have to So we're gonna we're
gonna put this guy somewhere. Oh, there you go.
Oh, for sure. No, we will have to find somewhere
creative to put this little guy. But this is
a great idea. I think fun and I just call to
think, you know, like, oh, here's the little
something that I made halfway across the world
now. And yeah. Oh, yeah. Like fun. During the
pandemic, there was people that were there was
this whole thing about the painted rock and rock.
And I found a few of them at Ojibwe and they
were from Guelph and the people don't know how
they came down here. But there was an actual
site I happened upon. I'm like, oh, I have this.
rock. That's so cool yeah kind of like you know
like the old time you like message in a bottle
throw it in the water see where it goes and yeah
just see what happens. It's a lot of fun so yeah
we're definitely definitely make sure that if
you're anywhere in the world if you see one of
these guys hit the QR code, and then maybe take
him with you. It's not stealing. You're supposed
to take it. See how far they'll go. And bring
him somewhere else and leave him for somebody
else to enjoy. And this little guy is going to
stay here until I can figure out where I want
him to go. Actually, I think I'm going to bring
him with me to Belleville this year. Oh, cool.
Prince Edward County area. Nice. And then we'll
see where he flies to. Yeah. Thank you so much.
Thanks so much for having me, Tracy. It was wonderful,
Bethany. Great chatting. I know. Now that we
finally got it, I actually knew her through the
hook pusher, Diane Clinton. Now, I think our
coffee was the first time we had actually met
or maybe a crochet club. Oh yeah, maybe. Maybe
a crochet club. the hook pusher. She was my very
first episode and she's our yarn. Our yarn girl.
Our yarn girl. She hooks us up when we need it.
Yeah. It's great. But again, my name is Tracy
Martens and just know that there are so many
different things to do, careers, markets, you
name it in the Windsor -Essex County area. And
it's never too late to start something, start
something new, a new career, a new journey, a
new path or just a hobby. Keep us in mind. Watch,
like, subscribe. And again, my name is Tracy
Martens. Thank you so much for joining me at
YQG in Blue. You have a good day.