Saturday Crochet: Amigurumi

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Firefly Center for Art & Nature

 
In 2010, we opened The Little Bits Workshop in River Forest, IL and it’s still going strong serving over 100+ students every week. LBW is a cozy makerspace where our team of 12 instructors teach all kinds of skills from sewing to building to art.

We also partner with the Forest Preserve of Cook County to provide camps that combine craft and nature adventures. These MakerNature Camps have struck a cord with kids and might be our most popular program. 


I’m an artist and amateur naturalist, so naturally, I’ve wished our Workshop was in the middle of a forest surrounded by birds singing, grazing deer, frolicking squirrels and curious chipmunks. That dream has come 1/2-way true with our FPCC partnership because camps are held in the Thatcher Woods Pavilion completely surrounded by nature. An extension of these camps is our Wednesday MakerNature Workshop during the school year.


In 2021, my family made a difficult decision to move from River Forest to Wheaton to be closer to my mom and for my son who has Down syndrome to attend Wheaton North High School where we discovered a deep commitment to special education.


My long term desire to develop a Center for Art & Nature has propelled me to look at every nook and cranny for a place to start a small division of The Little Bits Workshop in the Wheaton area. If you are interested in this adventure, fill out the form below and I’ll keep you posted.


Here’s my vision:

  1. •Workshops for ages 6-adult that develop a passion for observation and documentation through art

  2. •Art: Drawing, Watercolor, Pen & Ink, Colored Pencil, Acrylic, Multi-media, Collage, Printmaking

  3. •Hiking in and journaling nature

  4. •Bird, flower, insect, tree ID

  5. •Fiber arts that reflect nature

  6. •Sewing small nature-inspired projects

  7. •Bushcraft skills

  8. •To teach kids the joy of being still in nature so they can experience the magic!



–Liita Forsyth

 

Children, leave nothing in the woods but your footprints and leave it better than you found it. Tread softly around the wildflowers. Learn how to become excellent stewards and restore what others have destroyed. Do this for your children and their children.



We are partnering with the Glen Ellyn Park District and offering Monday Art & Nature Workshops

in the Boathouse at Lake Ellyn. Our next session begins January 23. Click HERE for more details and registration.





 

Over the past 30 years I’ve had opportunities to  share my love of nature through art in publications and murals. Below is some of my work.


Sand Ridge Nature Center Renovation

In July, 2021 The Sand Ridge Nature Center had its grand Re-opening of it’s newly renovated facility which included my mural shown above. Tony Preckwinkle, President of Cook County presided over the ribbon cutting ceremony and took a moment for this photo with me. It’s a magnetic wall and you’ll notice magnetic species slapped on it by little hands.

Trailside Museum of Natural History

This is one of 4 murals done for the lobby of Trailside Museum in River Forest.

Audubon for the Chicago Region

This is one of 12 illustrations done for Audubon’s annual report. The rare yellow-billed Cukoo has returned to Chicagoland grasslands due to great restoration efforts by volunteer naturalists.

Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt. 

—JOHN MUIR

MakerNature Hammock Camp,

a partnership between the Forest Preserve of Cook County and The Little Bits Workshop. Kids make their own hammock, go kayaking, do archery, hike in the woods, dip in the ponds for critters and just simply enjoy nature all day. It’s what summer camp should be!