Boxes with Birds and Beads

I finished and shipped this to a friend earlier this week.  The pattern is from an old issue of Cross Stitch and Needlework magazine - sometime in the '90s, I think.  If anyone is interested, let me know, and I'll find the exact date!  I added pink beads to the borders and used yellow beads for the flower centers, then mounted it as a box top on a 3"x5" craft wood box from Michael's.  The inside is lined with blue felt, and the little bird bead (from DH's grandmother's old jewelry, as always) is stitched into a ribbon rose "nest."  The friend to whom I gave this was one of my old Ren Faire besties, and she has since moved across the country with a man who raises and shows exotic birds.  It isn't your typical love story, but it suits her, and I can see from the pictures how happy they are together.  I am thrilled at how perfectly this design represents them, and how much she loved it.

And now I'm working on "Cowboy Dreams," stitching it over-one (every time I do that, don't I always say I'm not going to do it again?).  I'll post a pic soon.