Love Coupons

Yesterday was the first time we actually did anything for Valentine's Day in four years. It was also the first vacation day I took this year from work. I work in accounting/finance, so the end of the year, the beginning of the year, and at every month-end, I'm very busy. I didn't get to take the days off between Christmas and New Years. January is always my busiest month of the year. I finally got through all that and was able to take a day off work! :)

I had several things on my to-do list, but I ended up only getting one thing done. But I'm glad, because it was a gift for the love of my life, Todd! I saw a Love Coupons project in the current issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine and thought it was such a cute idea, so I imitated it. I actually went to their site and downloaded the .PSD template. Because why create more work for myself when you can download a template, eh?  Work smarter, not harder!  I did customize it with my own colors and decorated each coupon with different Photoshop brushes. It was so fun to play with Photoshop brushes. I had forgotten how fun they can be, I definitely need to use them more often in my own scrapbook pages! :)

Here's the final product.




I thought I had 2-3 empty Altoid cans laying around, but I could not find any of them! So I actually had to go to the grocery store and buy a tin and empty out the mints into a ziplock baggie, LOL.

More views of the coupons.




My supply list:

• Canon 8.5x11 Matte Photo Paper
• Canon MP620 printer
• Tombo Mono Multi adhesive
• Marvy corner rounder punch
• Scissors
• Altoids tin

Digi supply list:

• Love Coupon template from Creating Keepsakes (only for the coupon itself - I made up my own cover and inside front pages).
• Love Grows No. 1 Brushes and Stamps by Katie Pertiet @ Designer Digitals.
• Floral Spray Brushes:  Wildflowers by Michelle Coleman @ Little Dreamer Designs.
• Loveable by Michelle Coleman @ Little Dreamer Designs.
• S.W.A.K. by Michelle Coleman @ Little Dreamer Designs.
• P.S. I Love You by Julia Makotinsky @ Little Dreamer Designs.
• Heart Shapes brushes @ Green Bulb Gang.
• Birds from Sweet Life Album by Miss Tiina @ Sugar Hill Co.
• Fonts are Steelfish, Avant Garde, and Sling.

So creating these coupons in Photoshop and then printing them out, cutting them, corner punching them, and acquiring the Altoids tin took much longer than I thought it would.  I didn't get to scrap some pages that I had planned.  But that's okay, because I'll get to them later this week.  Plus, I really reconnected with my love of using Photoshop brushes, and just the pure joy of creating something fun.  I really enjoyed it!  :)

After Todd came home, we went to our favorite Indian restaurant, Punjabi Tandoor, to get awesome takeout Indian food for Valentine's Day!  We love this place so much that we ate this food for New Years Eve, then had them cater Todd's big Super Todd birthday party, AND had this takeout for Valentine's Day.  We should tell them that they are a part of all of our life's celebrations, don't you think?  Maybe a lifetime discount is in order, ha ha! 

It was yummier than ever. I just love Punjabi Tandoor, like Homer Simpson loves donuts.


After dinner, we shared a piece of red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting that we bought the day before from V.G. Bakery.


And almond champagne! I've never had it before and couldn't resist when I saw it at Costco.


Then we spent the evening on the couch with Noodle, reading Cooking Light magazines and planning which new recipes to try out. I loved how cozy it was. It was a quiet evening staying in instead of going out. But I hate the crowds and overpriced food at restaurants on Valentine's Day, so this was really perfect.

Oh and we did catch Todd on Fox 5 News!


They only showed a little snippet of what he said, and cut out a bunch of answers he gave them to other questions. And they didn't air me at all. Like I said, local news don't like downers for Valentine's Day. :p