Storyland Cross Stitching and My First (Successful) Attempt

I used to cross stitch all the time when I was younger and quite recently, I had the 'itch to stitch'. So, for Christmas, my boyfriend bought me Storyland Cross Stitching by What Delilah Did. It's a beautiful book, filled with lots of gorgeous designs and ideas, and even comes with a mini starter kit and postcard too. It is divided into three sections: 'projects for beginners', 'practice makes perfect' and 'projects for the brave & determined'. Since I haven't cross stitched since I was about ten I decided to go back to basics and try a beginner pattern.

I really loved the look of the first design which is a delicate little key bookmark. In the book, they use gold thread but since my thread stash is at the bare minimum, I decided to use grey instead. The book recommends using Aida 14 count thread for beginners which is what I initially used (and failed at, it ended up in the bin, how I managed this I don't know). But I had also bought some 27 count evenweave, which I have never used before, and I soon got back into the hang of it. I really love how it looks and I'm eager to stitch more.