Happy Birthday tote and matching wine tag!

Happy 60th birthday to my boss, and Happy sunshiny Saturday to you!  What a gorgeous day!

I wanted to make something extra special for my boss's 60th birthday present.  She loves to send cards and drink wine :), so I made a gift set incorporating BOTH!  She also loves bling, so I sprinkled plenty of that in there, too.  I thought they came out super cute, and she truly loved them.  Without further ado, here they are!!!

Ok, so that may have been a few more pics than I REALLY needed, but I just thought they were so cute and springy and vibrant, couldn't stop taking photos!  I used the soon-to-retire Concord Crush (that gorgeous rich purple), combined with Wisteria Wonder, a hint of Daffodil Delight for that pop of yellow, and some Lucky Limeade leaves to balance it out.  The flower on the tote is the Mixed Bunch stamp set and matching punch from the Occasions Mini catalog.  In my humble opinion, that is one of THE cutest stamp sets and matching punches SU has come up with in a long time.  Anyways, I digress... The tote is an 8 1/2x11 sheet of Wisteria Wonder card stock (stamped with images from the Mixed Bunch set in Concord Crush ink) -- score both long sides at 1 1/4" in from the outside edges.  Then, rotate your card stock and score at 4 1/2" from both short ends.  At the bottom of the tote, cut on the score lines into the 1 1/4" score line, and fold into a box -- adhering sides with sticky strip.  For the handles, I punched two strips of Concord Crush with my Lace Ribbon border punch.  This baby takes some elbow grease to punch, but boy, is the result ever stunning!  I attached the handles with the tab punch, and embellished them with little flowers using a punch from the Itty Bitty punch pack.  To give the flowers more dimension, I used my stylus to push the centers down a bit and curl the petals up.  Of course, I added plenty of Basic Rhinestones for the bling I wanted, and put a bunch of greeting cards inside the tote for her to use throughout the year.

The matching wine tag uses the Fun Flowers die for the focal point flower.  I spritzed my flower liberally with my homemade shimmer mist, so it is so sparkly in real life.  Of course, the background of the tag is embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, and I stamped the white panel on the front with the little Filagree background stamp.  LOVE this stamp -- perfect for adding a little touch of elegance, and an awesome stamp for stamping on chipboard letters...

Okay, think that's it!  Give this little tote a try for someone special in your life!