Dreaming of "Mon Jardin"

I studied French in high school, college, and graduate school, so it's always fun for me to throw some Francais around my home.  Combine the fact that I am DYING for Spring to chase away the last of Winter so I can get out in my garden....and you have my latest craft:  a handpainted "jardin" sign.

I already made a farmhouse sign from the reclaimed wood I got from a family barn in Georgia.  I used the smaller piece I cut last time for this project.

I painted on a smeary mix of brown and black acrylics to cover up the red.

It soaked into the grain beautifully. I almost wanted to leave it like this!

I applied a crackle medium, warm white paint, and then used an oak gel stain to further distress the corners of the wood.

The paint and crackle medium worked beautifull with the old wood.  For the letters, I used the same technique I did here and filled them in with "Tahiti Blue."

So to dispell the rest of winter's drear, I will dream of "mon jardin."

To see what parties I'm linking to, check my Blog Parties tab.  I'm also linking to:

This is also my first week of linking up at Sunday Showcase and Favorite Things Friday!