Who knew that cereal boxes could be such a fun source of inspiration? I admit, at first, I had my doubts that I would find a box design that would give that special spark of an idea. But it did!
I get so excited when serendipity happens in my creativity. In this case, a new idea for a layout came to me while walking my dog this spring, not long after Alice gave the SH Creative Team the prompt for April. The flowers, trees, and fields were all in bloom. I noticed little yellow flowers in the grass along the lake. I got out my trusted plant identifier app called PictureThis. And just as I had expected, the pretty little flowers were called buttercups.
Using my iPhone camera, I took various shots of the buttercups. Some were close-up, some showed the field of buttercups from further away, and some had the lake in the background. It was decided at that time that I would use these along with a photo of me and my grandmother from the 1970s to document this story.
The word “buttercup” brought me back to special childhood moments with my maternal grandmother. I recalled taking walks or dancing with her and exploring her backyard. She would sing me a song and the only lyrics I can remember are “my buttercup, my little buttercup…” I searched Google for the song, which I assumed was from my grandmother’s youth. At first I thought it was the Randy Newman song that appeared in the movie, The Three Amigos. But then I realized that the song was written years after she sang to me. So I had no luck locating the lyrics. It is possible that she just made it up.
With this memory in mind, I did a Google search of images of cereal boxes. I was surprised that it didn’t take me long to zero in on the Cheerios box with the big heart in the center and the yellow background in the same tone as my buttercups.
I do have to admit something though. I wanted to try to get this layout done quickly and so I started designing it in Photoshop. When I finished it a few hours later, I didn’t feel the same enthusiasm for its style as I did the story. So, I put it aside for a couple of days.
When I went back to reassess, I knew I preferred something different. I needed further inspiration. My instinct was to search the digital templates offered by Katie Pertiet Designs. I found exactly what I was looking for with this template called Scrap Layers 63. I wanted to keep the photo in the shape of the heart.
It probably would’ve taken me days to create the cool sunburst effects myself, so why try to reinvent the wheel? I decided that $5.00 was worth the investment. I know other ScrapHappy Sisters have loved using her beautiful templates to get their layouts completed as well. I am really happy with how it turned out. The fun design reflects the joyful memory perfectly.
What special memory will you document with inspiration from the design of a cereal box?