About Us
About Us
Liita Forsyth liita@thelittlebitsworkshop.com 630-309-1606
411 Park Avenue
River Forest, IL 60305
Easy parking is available on both Lake Street and Central Avenue—just a few steps from the front door. (The parking behind the workshop is only for residents.)
Loves: kids, nature, road trips, painting, upcycling, crochet, collage, trying new things, gardening and raising butterflies
Believes: Our creativity is merely a microscopic peek into the mind of our Creator who has given us gifts and truth to share.
Working on: Battling with my kids about time wasted on deVICEs.
Also: Enjoys bird-watching, identifying wildflowers and sleeping outside!
Studied: Illustration at the Ringling School of Art & Design, Sarasota, FL and Graphic Design at the College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn IL
Spent: 18 years as a graphic designer and art director
She is a Knitter, economist, musician, sage, gogini, teacher, mom
Loves to Walk in the woods. upcycle. repurpose, learn, knit, teach others to knit. Drink tea and infusions.
Believes: Our father makes art in heaven.....Our lives are our art, we can set ourselves to music, and our days are our sonnets.
Working on: becoming a more patient person. Repurposing my jewelry collection. Always kniting.
Also: cooking, reading, singing, theatre.
Studied: Economics and Spanish. Worked as an economist in a previous life. More recently began teaching Spanish.
She is a graphic designer, sewing instructor, artist, crafter, mentor, wife, mom.
Loves: The creative process, working with children, sharing & learning new skills.
Believes: Art, design, sewing and crafting use valuable problem solving skills that serve you throughout your life... It is a gift to be shared.
Working on: Finishing knitting and quilting projects that have lingered and creating jewelry.
Also: Enjoys live theatre performance, singing, cooking, photography and nature.
Study & Practice:
BFA in Graphic Design from U of I; In the advertising/design industry for 3 decades; Continued study of the arts
She is a wife, mum, creator, educator, chef
Loves to travel, sample cuisine from
around the world. Knit, crochet & sew. Loves to sing when no one is listening!
Believes in learning something new as often as
possible; presently learning to play the piano
Working on - enjoying every
moment of every day
Also enjoys Indian movies, food & culture.
Studied Business & Finance at Derby University in the UK
Enjoys: being with her family, walking her dog, hikes in the forest and escaping to Michigan
Study & Practice: Has her MA in Early Childhood Education. Worked for many years as a preschool teacher.
SHE IS a wife, mum, educator,
creative coach, perpetual learner
LOVES life, humankind, inquiring minds, nature, travel,
and inspiring others.
BELIEVES IN mindfulness, and random acts of loving kindness.
WORKING ON expanding my knowledge of Ayurvedic studies, Herbalism and Mastering Qi Gong
ALSO enjoys, family, cooking, experimenting with home remedies, foraging, meditation, movies and new adventures
STUDIED Early Childhood Education UK, and certifications in a wide range of alternative therapies, Previous career in Advertising, works in Early Childhood/Pre-K, District 90
Enjoys: making anything miniature, hanging out with her kids, baking and crafting
Study & Practice: Worked in print production and is an expert homeschool teacher. She currently works with preschoolers at The Field School Chicago.
The Little Bits Cottage is our all-time favorite project for teaching kids to do a little bit of everything: sewing, measuring, cutting, imagining and upcycling!
The heartbeat behind
The Little Bits Workshop
In our American culture there are about two generations who for the most part have quit passing down hand skills to their younger generations. Somehow we've busied ourselves to the extent that we've become dependent on extremely low cost and unaccountable labor forces to make everything we believe we need.
At The Little Bits Workshop, we are driven by the belief that we need to change and reverse our culture to nurture a love of making. There's a tremendously powerful feeling of accomplishment for kids to build something that is useful or wear something that they've made. It opens their minds to the fact that there really is no limit to what they can create and I've personally seen an insatiable need in countless students to be challenged, so we keep raising the bar.
The doors of The Little Bits Workshop opened on Presidents Day 2010 and we've had the amazing privilege to teach thousands of kids the joy of making. Many have been in our classes continuously for 3-6 years because they LOVE be challenged by the next creative project.
We are not simply trying to keep kids busy and away from electronics, though that is certainly part of it. Our bigger vision is to empower a sense of unlimited possibilities and the realization that skills can become an occupation, a small business or even a company. We may be holding the key that some child needs to unlock their future. Or at the very least, give them a satisfying way to relax and release their creative energy during their entire lifetime. We take this responsibility very seriously and strive to teach kids excellence in their work.
Imagine 50 village children in a gray, dingy, post-communist classroom opening treasure boxes full of sparkling jewels. Their excitement was an explosion of energy and magical wonder. The classroom? A crumbling room in a Russian village school southeast of Moscow. The jewels? Nothing particularly special or valuable—just some disassembled costume jewelry from garage sales and thrift stores around the Oak Park/River Forest area purchased in preparation for this journey that would change my life.
In 2001, a missions trip to Kaluga, Russia lit a flame that hasn’t gone out. My husband, Paul, and I worked with a team, teaching art and sports to kids during their annual summer camp. I will never forget the thrill that those 125 children felt by creating beautiful projects.
When we returned home, I envisioned opening a studio where children and adults could gather to create that same magic. On February 15, 2010 that dream came true when the doors of The Little Bits Workshop opened.
Since the early 90s, I’ve spent my professional life as an art director, graphic designer and illustrator, but my first love is to create with my hands. Simply put, I’m a maker who comes from a long line of engineers, artists and one matriarchal recycler—my Grandma, Alice Hunsicker. Opening The Little Bits Workshop was a natural result of all that DNA. I’m also a mother of two children who love to make things. I believe carving out creative time is restorative and essential.
—Liita Forsyth
One of our favorite projects is The Little Bits Cottage.
Over the years we’ve made this with thousands of kids. It’s little place where imagination goes wild. Below is a bit of inspiration. Just about everything is made from items found in a recycle bin or junk drawer.
The Little Bits Workshop, River Forest, IL
Liita Forsyth
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