50 Wooden Signs for the British Dog Fields Awards 2025

50 Wooden Signs for the British Dog Fields Awards 2025 🐾

Sometimes a project lands in your inbox, and you just know it’s going to be a special one.

This year, I had the absolute pleasure of creating 50 wooden signs for the British Dog Fields Awards 2025 and not only was it a brilliant event to be part of, it was also my very first time working with tropical sapele.

And wow… what a wood.

First Time Working with Sapele

I’m always excited to experiment with different timbers, but sapele had been on my “can’t wait to try this” list for a while.

It’s a beautiful hardwood with rich, deep reddish-brown tones and a gorgeous natural shimmer running through the grain. As soon as I started cutting and engraving it, I knew it was something special.

Some woods can be unpredictable when laser engraving —
Some burn too dark.
Some lose detail.
Some just don’t behave.

But sapele?

It engraves beautifully.

The detail came out crisp and clean, with a lovely contrast that made the lettering and design pop without overpowering the natural grain. It’s one of those materials that does half the work for you.

Safe to say… I’ll definitely be using it again.

50 Signs, All Made with Care

Producing 50 pieces for an awards event is always a balance between consistency and craftsmanship.

Each sign needed to:

- Look uniform as part of a collection
- Feel premium and weighty
- Represent the quality of the awards themselves
- Still carry that handmade, thoughtful finish

Every piece was cut, engraved and carefully finished by hand in the workshop. When you’re working in larger batches, it becomes a bit of a rhythm, sand, wipe, check the grain, engrave, finish, repeat (with lots of tea in between).

There’s something really satisfying about lining up that many finished pieces and seeing them all together.

Why Projects Like This Mean So Much

What I love about commissions like this is being trusted with something that marks an achievement.

These weren’t just signs. They were awards. Keepsakes. Markers of hard work and recognition for businesses in the dog community who genuinely care about what they do.

Being a small business myself, I know how much those moments matter.

To be asked to create something that becomes part of that celebration? That’s huge.

Thank You

A massive thank you to the British Dog Fields Awards team for trusting me with this project. It was an honour to create something for such a brilliant event.

And to anyone thinking about commissioning custom wooden awards or signage, whether it’s 1 piece or 50, I’d love to hear your ideas.

Now… onto the next project (and probably more sapele 👀).