Clover Signs Blog

Almost two years ago we received a request to make a very unique house sign. Every so often our customers provide the artwork they want painted onto their sign but in this case, it was a sculpture that was to be “added on” to the sign. The photograph (below) was taken in Alaska, modified by the customer and passed on to us to convert into 3D.

Ring Necked Pheasant

Only recently did I learn the background of this project. Paul Guiver actually owns and runs a small business of his own.

Diver’s Gifts & Collectables specialise in one-of-a-kind gifts for Scuba & Deep Sea Divers, The Military, Police & Fire Departments and other professional businesses and sporting authorities.  Their hand-made glass figurines are made to order and can be uniquely designed to commission.

Divers Gifts and Collectables

Have you ever wanted your very own Irish pub sign? The sign below was actually made as a wedding present for somebody else, but it is a take off on an actual Irish pub sign. The customer actually visited our workshop and we sat down and designed the sign together. After a few final tweaks, the design was ready to put into production, and I have to say, I am more than impressed with the final result.

Personalised Irish Pub Sign

Contact us to receive a free proof and quote, or to speak to a designer.

Possibly the most humorous sign we have made, “The Dead Ostrich” is to hang in a private study, (not on a pub).  The background depicts a pub building on a hill top in the Karoo region of South Africa, hense the Afrikaans translation on the reverse of the sign. It was given as a 70th birthday present to a much loved uncle, and  I trust he is enjoying it on his wall as much as we enjoyed designing and crafting it.

The Dead Ostrich

Throughout the course of the year, we here at Clover Signs can’t help but notice the tendency of people to request a house sign design that is in keeping with that particular time of year. For instance, many crocuses and daffodils are requested in Spring, and we seem to paint a lot of blackberries and apples in the Autumn and poppies in November. This seems quite logical except when you stop to think that your house sign will be up year round. Nevertheless, we are still receiving orders for and making numerous Holly House signs like this one.

Holly Cottage

Tempted? It’s not too late for that last minute Christmas present. However, orders must be placed by the 10th of December in order to deliver by Christmas. Just remember, a house sign will last many years and will be on your house throughout all the seasons, so don’t limit yourself to the present moment.

Generally, when people are ordering some new sinage, whether it is for their recently rennovated house or they are opening a home B & B, they want the complete package to be delivered from one company. As of the beginning of 2008, Clover Signs has made both hanging signs and wrought iron hanging brackets. There is nothing special about it but The Cart Lodge has become easily our most-referred-to sign; ie. “I want a sign just like The Cart Lodge”.

Popular hanging sign with wrought iron bracket.

To request your own customised sign (double sided or otherwise) visit our Hanging Signs page on our business website.

Although primarily a traditional house sign maker, Clover Signs has also expanded into the business market, making pub signs and bed and breakfast signs. In October of 2007, Martine approached us for a hanging sign for her new B & B which she clevery called “Martinn”.  The Martinn, located in southwest France, opened its doors on March 20th 2008 and we are pleased to see our sign gracing its entrance. I can assure you, the inside is much more attractive than the outside, featuring a pool, gourmet food and many great activities.

When selling signs, we mostly get the payment by credit card.  However, when Gina from Gina’s Cakes asked us to make them a sign, we couldn’t resist.  We accepted payment for half the sign, then charged the other half in “cake.”

Gina was thrilled with her part of the deal and the cake was most delicious!  Clover Signs certainly recommends Gina’s Cakes as the source for your celebrations.

Of course, if you are looking for a sign, not a cake, you can get a hanging shop sign from us!

Clover Signs would like to announce that we are no longer making slate house signs. The simple reason is this: Our carved house signs have become so popular that we cannot concentrate on 2 things at once.

Slate and stone is still a great choice for a house sign, so we would like to recommend Rustic Stone. Rustic Stone make all manner of slate house signs and signs on boulders, ideal for setting next to driveways.

However, if you were dead set on getting that beautiful custom painting, and simply had to have it on slate, Your Signs, based on the Isle of Wight is the place to go. From simple house number plates to superb custom painted house plaques, their dedicated team of house sign makers and house sign artists combine traditional arts & crafts  techniques together with contemporary  resin & reflective lettering technologies  to produce elegant, quality, long lasting house signs that will  enhance the look of your home in daytime and also help  make your home address easier to find during hours of darkness.

Everybody knows that one of the most important things in any business (not to mention the rest of life) is networking. We used to call it working together. In any case, my wife and I spent a long weekend last week with signmaking acquaintances at Sannerz Designs near Frankfurt, Germany. They also work in HDU, the synthetic wood we use for our carved signs, but focus on business signage as the Germans haven’t yet caught on to the habit of naming their houses.

Although their business structure is quite different to reflect differences in the nature of the markets, we learned a lot from each other, as well as having a smashing weekend, and not neglecting to invest in a little German quality beer and chocolate.

Some of their work is absolutely breathtaking, like this crest – they made a set for this brewers various outlets.

In the networking line, I recently stumbled upon a forum for HDU signmakers. Hopefully we can share our knowledge in this rapidly growing area of business.

As the Germans say: Sie und Ihr Geschäft sind einmalig

We often get questions about whether we make double sided or hanging signs.  The simple answer is yes.  As of the beginning of 2008 we have made both hanging signs and wrought iron hanging brackets. There is nothing special about it but The Cart Lodge has become easily our most referred to sign; ie. “I want a sign just like The Cart Lodge”.

Popular hanging sign with wrought iron bracket.

To request your own customised sign (double sided or otherwise) visit our Hanging Signs page on our business website.