Wowwee! That is so beautiful. You really did a spectacular job on that.Really nice work.
LALA

MM, that looks GREAT!!!! It looks so good all together! I tell you, you deserve a big applause for this accomplishment on your first mosaic! You had a big vision and sure accomplished it.

BEAUTIFUL JOB!!! BEAUTIFUL KITCHEN!!! You DH must be bursting with Pride for such a SPECTACULAR JOB!!! And to get it done for the holidays to show it off, how AWESOME!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!!! And thank you for sharing all this with us! You have been a big part of the fun on this forum with this project(and your million questions!lol)

OH MM, IT'S EXTRAORDINARY!!!!! WOOT! WOW!!!!!

WOW WOW WOW MM. I think you did a wonderful job. Your backsplash is breath taking!! BEAUTIFUL!!!

Chris

Mary, Mary... it's just gorgeous!!! I can't get over what you've done! It all has such nice flow... really it's a masterpiece! I know you must be proud... and you SHOULD be! I just keep going back and looking at it.. in AWE! Congratulations!!!

Congratulations!

Just in time for Christmas.

Well done!
It fits right in with your kitchen. How often are
you walking into the kitchen now JUST to look
at it? ;o) And have you done the: "Lets see what it
looks like with this light on?"..."now what does it
look like with all the lights on?"...you get the idea.
Beautiful work.
Linlee

That looks sooo good!! You did such a great job. I just cant believe its your first thing...I know Im repeating what everyone else said!!! I cant wait to hear what your family says about it!! They better be impressed or we will have to send the gardenweb girls after them!!!! They will be I cant see how they wouldnt be!!! Gosh girl you did so good!!!! Merry Christmas!!! Take a bow...you deserve it after all that work!!!

Absolutely perfect!It looks so spectacular in your kitchen.I'd be running in there every minute to look at it.You really did good!!

Spectacular! Stunning! Wow, you did a fabulous job. Let us know what everyone says. What does your hubby say?

It looks sooooo awesome!! You must be proud. Everyone will want to hang out in your kitchen, I know I would! You put so much interesting and beautiful china in there, and so much creativity, it's hard to describe how much I LOVE it!!

WOW!!How BEAUTIFUL. What a difference that must make in your kitchen, so colorful. To walk into your kitchen first thing in the morning and see this, must put you in a cheerful mood. You did an excellent job. Enjoy!
Bianchi

That is just amazing looking! Wow. and a first project, too!! YOur Chrismas guests will be ooohing and aaahhing!

MAria

Well it turned out just awesome. I love how cheerful and interesting it is. Now all the next projects you make will seem so little compared to that.
Cindy

Fan-freakin-tastic MM!!!! What an awesome job on your first project. I love the area in the second pic over your outlets...it looks like liquid is spilling out of the cup into the bottom cup. Beautiful job!

Barb

How delightful! Your first project AND a REALLY BIG one at that...and it's perfectly awesome! Congrats on getting it in before Christmas! You'll have a wonderful time in there cooking now!!

Pat

MM!! What? How? But..but.. you were a NEWBIE when you started this project! Just ain't possible... I mean the stars must have been in alignment with the planets or sumthin'. (Or you could just be a mosaic prodigy!!)
Sooo proud of you. It's amazing. Looks wonderful!

what they said----barb

I see Bama is going from one net connection to another as she travels! LOL

GREAT!! I still lack a few spots on mine, hope to finish in am. I love yours and am so proud of you. Merry Christmas and I hope everyone enjoys it and that you bask in the compliments. You deserve them.

and it's a beautiful kitchen wall...
great design..
I just wish I dared to do such a thing.

and here's an idea to pass on...
every time I see this project, I look at my kitchen and wonder..is it possible, just possible, to do the kitchen cupboards?
I've studied the cupboards in my kitchen a million times, wondering if it would be a smart decision, to go ahead and mosaic right on the doors to them........

either straight to the door or to use the backer board you have used on the walls...
whatcha'll think?

That is incredible, and what a work of art! Loads of time and love in there to treasure for years to come. ~: )

Becky, why not? I'd go straight on and just install bigger screws in the hinges afterward! I'd do it... but in our 1st house I painted a cow on one cupboard door and Dh nearly had a heart attack. After, he really liked it but it killed him to see me deface a brand new cabinant! LOL

MM, I keep coming back to see your backsplash... you give any thought to painting that window and trim? the white looks too... white.

Your backsplash is incredibly beautiful! I am jealous. I just did my backsplash in boring 4x4 tile with rocks from the Indiana Dunes as accents. My husband is originally from Indiana, and we had taken the kids out to the Dunes one day last summer, and they had collected all these rocks, so the backsplash has sentimental value, and my kids and husband would probably cry if I took it down to do something cool and colorful ... Dang!

THAT IS SO TOTALLY BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!! You should be so proud... what's next??

You are my hero. I'm just collecting the tiles for my backsplash, organizing them in baggies, thinking I must be crazy....you just proved it is the right thing to do. Mine won't be half so cool!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!

Thanks so much for all the wonderful accolades! I'm really pleased with the way it came out. Still some tweaking to do- little bit of grouting to cover the pieces that are over the screws, and likely will line that small bottom gap (it's actually not as big as it looks here) with some silicone.

Yeah, the install went a little rough: first I picked up that skinny piece for under the window, and it split RIGHT IN FREAKIN' HALF. Yeah, that was bad. I swore.

The outlet holes were somewhat of a PITA for the DH...he was a wee bit cranky about the whole process. Since I made the outlet holes too small, we ended up making an emergency trip to HD for a tool (I got an early Christmas present of a new ROTO ZIP!!! Yeee Haaa!)

I was pretty unhappy with the way those buttons had come out with the grout, so I hacked those all off, and redid that section. Nice & shiny now :D

Overall, though, I'm really happy. I thought it was going to be too busy, but surprisingly enough, it doesn't scream at me when I look at it...it's just pleasantly colorful. I'm really liking it, and contrary to what the DH thinks, it won't come down in 3 months.

The inlaws loved it, too. I liked showing it off.

The window trim is actually an off-white beigey-looking color, not stark white. The walls are a yellow wash with 3 tones of color, and the trim is the 'base' color. Yeah, it looks white in the pix, but it's really not. The outlet covers are, but the paint isn't.

So that's that.
Thanks again; I'll put up some pix later of my new "little" project. You're right; everything after this will seem so insignificant- LOL! But I'm good with that.

I'm sooo jealous! A beautiful backsplash, a new roto zip AND that cute Pillsbury Dough Boy!!! Thanks for the update, glad they love it as much as we do, I'm sure it's better in person! Jane

I'm speechless, absolutely speechless!!!! Haven't been here to visit in a while and you've just amazed me to the point of no return. I keep going back and seeing more things. You are making me wish I didn't have a log home...

Enjoy the Rotozip! It's a neat tool.

OMG it broke... I would have been bawling my eyes out at that point!

THAT IS AMAZING! I LOVE IT! CONGRATULATIONS.

Oh, boy! What a lotta work. DH should be pleased as punch with a DW that is as talented as you!!

GGG

OMG...just got off the sled...aka...big shining bird......and had to check forum......THIS IS AMAZING.....M&M..you have to be so proud of yourself..this just kicks butt! Your first project and turns out like a professional job.........cannot wait to see where you are taking your inspriations.......beautiful....Love it.Merry Christmas!

Lady, you have achieved a major operation - this is probably the most impressive project I've seen a newbie do. Take a very deep bow. Another thing that impressed me about this, is when you found something you'd already grouted, and you weren't happy, you tore it out. I get lazy and just leave things I know aren't right, but not you - you really know what you're doing here. So glad you kept us apprised of your progress. Job very well done.

I'm in awe. It's beautiful ! I Can't add anymore to what's already been said !

Thanks, slow- Yeah, I'm actually somewhat of a perfectionist...but only in certain things I do...artsy-fartsy stuff being one of them (house cleaning not-so-much- the defining factor is usually whether it's something I really want to do, and do well. I like art; I hate housecleaning.)

That's why it took me so long to get started...I wanted to do it right...and listened to a lot of your comments about what NOT to do...the first major one being the one about not spacing the tiles too far apart because that screams "newbie."
Then making sure I had the right tools, and knew how to use them...and practicing cutting stuff up, and buying & subsequently RETURNING plates that didn't lend themselves well to being cut...that sort of thing. I spend a LOT of time looking at pictures on the web of various mosaic stuff, and see what techniques I like, and how the artist designed the piece, and pick out the styles that I like, which styles work, and which ones don't. It's fun to look at the base that was used, and which tesserae was used on that base...and whether the whole piece comes together well in the end. Even things like the design/pattern that is used on the base...if the design flows with the base- KWIM? Sorta like a "square-peg-round-hole" issue if the design doesn't lend itself to the piece.

When it's something I'm really interested in, I enjoy the learning process as much as the "doing."

Wow. That turned out just great! Very colorful, very cheery. I'm still amazed that you tackled this as a "newbie", but you did an amazing job, and you should be proud!!

Well i do have to say wow, i love it. It looks awsome up. Congrates on a job done great..

WOW!! Absolutely beautiful!!

I can't add much more than what else was said already. It also took my breath away!
I can see that you thought this over and over~for a long time. I hope now, your mind is calm and you can look at it with a quiet satisfaction that you done REAL good!

Quote..."Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together." Vincent VanGogh

You certainly did your homework, did not dive in on impulse...and did an amazing work of art! I wish I had your patience!