If that critter lived here--he'd be taking a hike over the Rainbow Bridge! A flu shot, way back in 1960, made me highly allergic to dogs! It has not worn off. Going into a home that keeps a resident dog, sends me into breathing problems in about 15 minutes!

>That way the seam is fully supported. I have a continuous underlayment of 3/4" inch plywood. Perhaps this is a regional thing. I've seen plenty of diag seams here, and they're easier to do for a non-pro if you have to meet at a corner with straight pieces of granite--they're just more expensive because they use 4 sqft of granite more. Here's a diag seam by a professional installer: http://www.heritagestonecraft.com/photos/gallery/Seams/New%20Venetian%20Gold%20Seam.JPG And another place discussing it: http://www.barefootfloor.com/seams.html Another pic: http://img61.imageshack.us/my.php?image=butterfliedseams0029iv.jpg I searched for info about NOT using diag seams, and it seems that the main reason is countertop waste, not anything at all about stability. In fact, of the L-shaped seams, I couldn't find any that appeared to be trying to hit a cabinet edge. And certainly the countertops with a seam at the sink don't have a cab. side there to support the edge, which is the single most common type of seam that I found! (I used it, too.) I would also note that I'd NEVER recommend DIY granite if you want a large pattern. I used Opal Brown for precisely that reason. If you tried it with a "fake granite" like one of the metamorphic rocks with wide veins, I'd say you were looking for trouble. :-) I also would NOT recommend free-handing it! We has a guide the entire time. The gap would almost certainly exceede 1/8th of an inch in places with a freehand approach. With the guide, our worst seam (the first one) was 1/16th of an inch. One of the seams was so tight I had a hard time getting seaming material in it at all! Professional installation techniques also vary from place to place. Some (very expensive!) installers use equipment that creates a near-inivisible seam that must have a kind of vacuum pump to force the seaming material in. Most are considerably wider. Even my widest looks very much like the pics of professional installations by installers who are proud enough to put their seams on the web! I chose a light-colored granite, which means that my seam is more obvious than those on dark-colored granites. If you want your seams to disappear, choose black. But again, overall, I think that going DIY with granite in a kitchen with corner cabs & counters is risky and could have disasterous results, though it is quite possible.

If you have the one I'm thinking of (clear plastic, long handle you hold and another spins to make the circle), I do like that one, my mom has it and it works pretty smoothly. I have found that most cutters work better on glass (I have a glass cutting board) I don't have a circle cutter--want to get one!--but do have the Fiskars oval and don't really like it. I also have a doodle cutter...works good with strong templates and on a glass cutting board. It takes alot of practice, but works better than scissors; especially for making fun shapes and it's very compact! I think as part of Natl Scrapbook Day, I may end up getting the CM cutting system (circles/ovals) I used it at a party once and my pics looked so much nicer than when using scissors. Have fun with it! Hilary Here is a link that might be useful: doodlecutter

I don't think the colour combination, pink, yellow and black will work. The weigela shrubs have very bright unusual colours and quickly draw the attention from the Charles Joly lilac bush. You could better replace the yellow of the Happy Returns Daylilies with white, blue or lila (not all together) flowering plants. Yellow is a very strong colour. A good plant to combine with your weigela shrubs is the Armeria maritima 'Victor Reiter'. Although you said to did not want to go to far in height. I would advise white Alium poking through the foliage of the weigela and in between the plants. There are also smaller varieties. If you take a good look at the plants I chose, they all have different types of shapes and textures, that is what will make the garden look stunning. I'm a student running a free gardendesign service so if there's anything more I can do: lyschroten.wixsite.com/freegardendesign