The mountains are calling and I must go...

This is a long-time Pinterest inspired project.  The John Muir quote speaks to me.  I live in the mountains and they call to me daily.  In a short hop, skip or jump, I am on a trail running, pedaling or hiking- sometimes for an hour and sometimes for several hours a day.  

etsy source

I got this sign (below) left over from a wedding reception at work.  The pickets were painted with the bride and grooms names, date, and the word "reception" with an arrow.  The old weathered wood was great, but I didn't want to sand it down to remove the lettering.

I painted the whole thing with a white base.  At first, I thought "what have I done covering this weathered natural wood???"

Then I loaded some chocolate brown satin finish paint on the brush and lightly brushed across the white surface- allowing some streaks of white to remain for an aged look without having to sand edges.

 Next came some dry brush dabbing with a rust orange paint:

 Then a little turquoise for more aging:

I photoshopped the lettering from the original sign to my sign for placement and then got to work freehanding the lettering...

 You could always use vinyl lettering, but I wanted to do this project without spending any money.

Both of my children are named after mountains, so "the mountains are calling" sort of has a double meaning for me.

As with most, this project has spurred a whole other big project for my son and we're both excited.