So, working on a complex carving. It carved fine and looked fine. Then I went to finish it. I put on some wood stain (a dark oak gel stain) that almost instantly went to nearly black. I tried rubbing it off, but didn't do much. Used some Mineral Spirits which lighted it a little bit but trying to rub on carvings really doesn't work very well.

Once done, I put semi-gloss polyurethane down, two coats. i didn't like how the finish turned out and thought it looked too dark. The carving figures were sun and moon so I crumbled up some gold leaf and applied it with a third coat. Will post pictures later or tomm.

So far as I know, there's no great way to fix this..it feels a little rough to the touch. Here's my questions:

* If I decide to lay a gloss finish on top of the semi gloss finish, do I have to worry about peeling?
* Since I already polyed the surface (yep, not sure if that's a verb either), can I still paint on top of the carving if I lay down another coat?
* Does anyone have a working technique to make a piece larger than 15" wide? I saw one as a 'tip and technique' making a big sign, but I'm not sure if I followed how to do it.

Thanks in advance for any and all help!