Brick Backsplash for Cottage Kitchen - Step One Completed!

The bricks are in! I almost waited until tomorrow to take more photos after the stove was moved back into place, but I'm so excited, hehe, that I had to share. Step one of the backsplash project is complete! Click for a larger photo...Just ignore the stove in the middle of the kitchen! By Friday I hope to grout and then next week, I can paint the bricks. I'll be painting them a bisque color - about the same color as the sink and other appliances. The actual color is called "Honey Milk". After painting them, I'm going to take a stiff wire brush or heavy sandpaper and distress the paint a bit as I want to try to retain the "old brick" look. I haven't decided yet if I will use glaze or not - we'll see. Hubs really likes the brick and says it turned out better than he expected. He also said he wouldn't mind not painting the bricks, but I think they would compete with the red cabinets if left unpainted, plus they are rather dark.

Today was such a long day and am I zapped! Thank you for all of your comments below. I appreciate hearing from all of you and will respond intelligently when my brain cells have had time to repair, lol!

I especially want to thank Kim (ScraptomyLou) for featuring my blog on the very inspirational "Today's Creative Blog" ! What an honor to be counted in among all the creative people blogged about there. You should bookmark this site and check it out daily! Thank you, again, Kim!

Have you checked out who has joined the Cottage Charm Giveaway in the last seven days? Be sure to check them out and sign up for whatever strikes your fancy!

11) My Indulgences
12) Princess Nimble-Thimble
13) Bella-Enchanted
14) Mother and Child
15) Trinkets and Treasures
16) Casa Amada

To view everyone that is offering a cottage giveaway from now until May 26th, check out the complete participant list if you haven't already. And of course, if you are interested in having your own Cottage Charm giveaway, here are the details.

Before I retire for the night, I must share with you a little gem I found on the clearance table at the bookstore. Apparently this title, The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady was also a movie and if it's half as charming as the book, I'd love to see it! The book is an actual nature diary written in 1906 by a woman named Edith Holden. The diary is written in her handwriting and is also filled to the brim with her beautiful watercolors. Each page is just so sweet:)

"Written in 1906, as a record of the stunning natural world around her, Edith Holden’s diary captures the innocence of the Edwardian age. In her own hand and accompanied with her beautiful and delicately observed watercolours, this book revels in the passing of the seasons..."


"For 70 years, her enchanting journal lay undiscovered--until 1977, when it was first published with great success (as any bookseller will recall). Now, it is back in print, ours to treasure once again. All the charm and beauty of the original remains intact in this facsimile, with Holden's carefully handwritten entries: favorite poems, personal thoughts, observations of the wildlife she saw in her native Warwickshire; and remarks on her travels throughout England and Scotland. On every page, her exquisitely rendered paintings--executed with a naturalist's eye for detail and an artist's sensitivity and skill--capture birds perched on branches, their mouths open in song; a tiny shrew mouse, sniffing the air; delicate butterflies and slithering snakes; fluttering leaves; and an array of flowers, from pink foxgloves and trailing roses to yellow water lilies. And, each spellbinding picture reflects her deep love of nature. Surely a beloved classic for a new generation of book buyers. ~Amazon editorial review"

It seems there are a couple of different versions of this book - one with "yellowed" paper, or at least paper made to look old and with different book covers. I'm not sure which is which is which, but I'm sure happy to have the copy I picked up today!