Trying out an exterior finish.

I finally got around to getting some paint (Behr semi-gloss "lemon souffle"- inspired by marlene's beautiful lemony Pierce) and wanted to try out a finishing technique that I read about here-- I got some craft sand and mixed it with the paint. Here is the first coat. I guess you can't see the sparkle very well in this pic but the sand does give it a kick. I am applying more wood paste and will do some sanding down before I put another coat on. I think it may take three or maybe even four coats to get the right look here...