My name is Aliza Deutsch. I live in New York City with my husband and two boys. I teach preschool, and for years I was not quite sure how on earth I would be able to parent children beyond the early childhood years. Now that they are 14 and 10, I cannot believe how much fun it is to parent kids when you can sleep in on the weekends. It also helps that I find them hilarious, and that we now watch many of the same TV shows together. Dr. Who is currently on the top of the Deutsch Family TV Lineup. As for scrapbooking, I started for the love of paper and cute pictures of my kids, but I have stayed for the stories.
Allow me to introduce myself, and the people in my scrapbooks. There’s me, the mom, the scrapbooker, and thus the annoying, I mean, eager picture taker. Here, however, I managed to tell a story about me, and therefore I bothered no one else in the process.
There’s the younger son, Sam, the smallest Deutsch in this family, who’s got a spirit and a style all his own. And he’s not afraid to show it. That style is sometimes noticed by passersby on the street of New York City, which is not always an easy task in The Big Apple.
And then, there’s the father, Dave, and the elder son, Max, who are now spending each day together while Max attends the high school where Dave teaches. Luckily, they can laugh a lot together, even when there’s tension between them.
It may seem weird that I chose to share the people of my family, but perhaps not. I record our stories for us; to help us remember the details of what we experienced and what we already know. But, sometimes I picture future generations as my audience. The people who aren’t here right now, who will have to use my words and photos to get a sense of those that came before them. So, I think of them too when I write, and try to make sure I get enough details in there for them, so that they can fully understand the people, the relationships, and the stories.
So, if I have a takeaway for you, it would be to tell a story, not just for you, but for someone who may not know you and your family. Has what you’ve written captured what you want to say right now?
Aliza's pages are amazing. They could be a study in how to create a perfect scrapbook page. She has balance, focal point, visual triangles, and proper proportion. But wait! not only are her pages well designed, but she also has an ability to share a good story, and allows her journaling to find a place on her layouts. Then she adds in a photo that captures the emotion of the image, and there you have it. A memory saved in a most fantastic way. You are going to want more, we know, so here is her blog and her facebook page!!
