This was the first mosaic I've done and it took about two full days to do.  I started by laying the shape out on a wooden board first.   At first I was unsure as to what material to use as a background.  I thought about using crushed glass or beads, but in then end went for blue tiles.  Many were cut some in half, and laid short end on from the seahorse, reaching out like rays of sunshine from the white tiles.  The idea being to draw your attention to the main design.

I used a mixture of white tile grout and cement to darken it.  I could have just left the grout in its original colour but then the white tiles would have been very difficult to see.  These days I would just use a different coloured grout rather than trying to darken it myself.

After grouting I left it for a couple of days to dry before cleaning the tiles to give them their shiny look you see here.

Click on the thumbnails below for larger images.