I stated this project several months ago and while I was going to hand paint the lettering similar to I did when Melissa, my daughter, had here children shop, I opted instead to route the letters and then paint the routed letters.  The router template kit was ordered on a special that Rockler had but took a long time to arrive.  It arrived about a week ago and finally was able begin to route the lettering.  I had cut out the blank, painted the background and painted the Blue Heron head about a month ago but it was a low priority to finish the sign, behind furniture and other odds and ends on the extensive to-do list.  We hung the sign on Sunday before we returned to Richmond.