
About Anabelle O'Malley...
My name is Anabelle O’Malley and I’m thrilled to be Guest Designing for Crate Paper. I have been a paper crafter for the past seven years. It’s truly my creative outlet! I’m an equal opportunity scrapper and love cards, layouts and mini-albums.
I live in Delaware with my husband and our 8 year old son, Ryan, who is usually the focus of my pages. I love making memories and preserving them for him. We also have a rambunctious kitty named Pulu who has been finding his way into my work, as well.
Currently, I am designing for Webster’s Pages and Emma’s Paperie. I was a Memory Maker’s Master and my work has also appeared in other magazines including Paper Crafts, Cards, Scrapbook Trends and Creating Keepsakes.
During the day, I work for the University of Delaware. I work with early childhood programs and help them improve the quality of their services. I love being in the classrooms with the little ones! Before Ryan was born, I taught elementary school for sixteen years.
When I’m not working, scrapping or running Ryan around to his many activities, I can usually be found hanging out with my family, cooking, visiting the gym, chatting on the phone with girlfriends or spending way too much time on Pinterest.
Ten Random Facts...
White tulips are my absolute favorite flowers.
Salt + Caramel = Pure Heaven (with Red Velvet following close behind)
On our first date, my husband asked me to go to Cancun with him.
I cook with quinoa at least once a week.
I HATE unloading the dishwasher.
A good margarita can cure all ills.
I believe in angels.
Maui is my favorite place on earth.
It drives me crazy when drawers and closet doors are left slightly opened, rather than shut all the way.
Being a mother has been the biggest joy of my life.



On Santa's Lap...
Each year my sister in law hosts a big Christmas Eve party. The highlight of the evening for the kids is Santa's arrival! Ryan is always a bit nervous, but usually gets over it once he opens his gift! I love using little bits and baubles of chipboard and added lots of it to this page. The hanging stockings are my favorites! Little bits of string are something else I love to add. I placed a piece on here.



Local...
I've wanted to do a page about my local farmer's market for a while. The Farmhouse line was perfect for it! I used a lot of stickers here. I cut a border sticker in half and added it to the yellow mat behind my photos. I adhered a circle sticker to a pinwheel and created my title with this as the focus. Two layered journaling spots created a great cluster and great space for me to write about my trips to the farmer's market. And more border stickers add color to the bottom and top of my page. Finally, I punched a border on the right side to add even more to the design.






Happy Campers...
I'm so in love with hexagons and chevrons right now. So, I decided to use both on this page. I recently bought a zig zag punch and it got a good work out as I created this layout. First, I punched strips from lots of my favorite Random papers. I adhered them to another piece of paper until I had a border that was about 4" inches thick. Using a hexagon pattern shape, I traced onto the zig zag border and cut them out. I matted them onto black cardstock to make the colors pop and stitched the edges. Since I wanted the hexagons to be the focus of the page, I adhered them to the center of the chevron paper (my absolute favorite from the line). Finally, I added some chipboard and stickers to finish things off.


Ho Ho Ho Card...
The little Santa chipboard piece from the Peppermint line is so cute. I decided to make him the star of the card! I created the little banner flags and added letter stickers to them. I adhered them with foam adhesive to give them some added dimension. Stickers and some jewels were also added to embellish the card.


Laugh Card...
I just adore the colors of the Random collection! This card highlights them all! I often turn to the journaling cards when making my cards and I used the butterfly one here. I added some chipboard, a pinwheel flower, trim and some stickers as embellishments. I love adding lots of layers to my cards. Often, people will ask how I mail my cards. What I usually do is place them into a padded mailing envelope and send them that way. Or, if they are being hand delivered, I sometimes wrap them in tissue paper and tie them with twine.











Apple Orchard Tradition Mini Album...
Every year, since Ryan was born, my sister in law, Patty, and I have taken him to the local orchard during the Fall. It is definitely one of my favorite traditions of the year. We went on a beautiful, crisp, Autumn Saturday this year and I got tons of photos. I decided to create this mini album to showcase them.
I love layering chipboard and stickers. I did this for the cover. I adore the multi-colored banner sticker and had to use it on here! I added it using foam adhesive to give it some texture. One that that I like to do when I create mini albums is to have pages that hold extra photos. In this book, I did so by cutting a large rectangle of paper and folding down one corner in the front. I adhered it with a brad and stitched along the bottom to create the pocket. Two pocket pages were added to my book and they hold all of my extra pictures. I alternated decorated photo pages with pages using the journaling cards so I could write about our special day.
Anabelle, you've really gone above and beyond the call of duty with the submission of so many beautiful creations! Crate Paper would kindly like to thank-you for finding and displaying each of our collections through-out each one, and giving our readers an amazing presentation of projects to start off the week following the busy holiday weekend! It's truly an honor to have you with us! Thank-you again!

OOO GREAT combo! Crate and Midnight Rooster? AWESOME! My favorite piece from this collection is "Exposure"- yo can do so much with that frame!!! It's lovely. I LOVE the blue jean alphas as well- that was a genius touch! Posted by: Michelle | November 22, 2011 at 10:53 AM
We're super excited for you, Michelle!! Congrats!! Please forward your info to cpblog@cratepaper.com - and thanks to all that commented about their favorite Crate Paper pattern paper! Our woodgrains are a huge hit amongst you guys..great to know! The feedback is tremendously appreciated!