I build a Tea cabinet out of maple for my wife and I engraved ( VCarve) the doors. She wants natural wood with black letters.
I use minwax wood sealer (that’s what I had on hand) .
I seal the top first, sand it and clean it, use some transfer tape over the area that was gonna get VCarved once was done I apply more wood seater to the VCarved area and Paint it black.
Se pick the nobs!! I would never ever thought about make a smiley face… she did…