The idea for this post came about after listening to a sermon in which our pastor threw out the questions: "What would the church look like without men? What if it was just a place where women and children hang out?" That got me thinking about our CAST team and that it would be great to try to identify the CAST shops that are run by men or are husband/wife, father/daughter or father/son partnerships. So far we have been able to identify 15 shops. If you know of any others please Contact Me.


These are the first five shops:

Joel of joelquiggle


My name is Joel Quiggle and I create Limited Edition art prints of my work. I graduated from Penn State University with a BFA in Drawing and Painting. In the fall I plan on attending Edinboro University to complete my Masters in Art Education and teachers certification.I didn't take much of an interest in drawing until about 10th grade, from then on, I have loved translating my imagination onto paper or canvas. I realize God has given me all of the gifts or talents I have and I want to give God all the glory and honor that may arise from them.God has given me a true passion for Art in general and I just love being able to do what I do. If my artwork ends up in a gallery or in my basement, I am content on what God has done in my life. I am putting all my sales towards an engagement ring, so help me out and get some great artwork with it!
Phil and Aletta of glassnwood


Glassnwood is located on the tropical Coastal Bend of Texas. This setting allows us to capture many mental and photographic images to transfer into our art and craft. Aletta does the stained glass work and Phil does the wood carving. Collectively we have 30 years of experience in our art. Our goal is to provide you with a handmade memento of the wildlife in our area.

Dave of WolfCreekmil

I am Dave Alden owner/operator of Wolf Creek Millworks. We are a small artisan forestry products business that uses the wood found along our roadways, backyards, and other non-traditional locations. This wood often ends up in landfills and/or is allowed to rot. This seems like a waste to us. We hold the Christian belief that we are to be “stewards” of this planet we live on. While we do not espouse radical environmentalism, we do have concerns that we are not doing a very good job taking care of the place God made for us to live on. Our equipment is well suited to operating in suburban back yards, parks or woodlots without leaving a large footprint. Wolf Creek Millworks makes finished home décor items, mantles, bowls, oil-candles etc. from the wood we gather. We also make slabs and blocks available to other wood working craft-persons.

Our shop was started during a period of unemployment. We think that small artisan businesses are the future of the global economy. With the availability of the web and global shipping giants we have the same market as the mega-corporation with the customer service and local flavor of the sole proprietor. We hope you enjoy our work as much as we enjoy making it.

 Dave working with his sons
Steve and Kate of BirdhouseBlessings

Birdhouse Blessings by S&K Creation, is made up of my husband Steve and me (Kate). We build birdhouses, welcome signs and step stools, mostly. Steve is legally blind (he can see the big E in an eye exam but it looks like a B to him) and the most unique birdhouse builder that I know. We have been in business for approximately 19 years now. Steve builds the birdhouses out of either cedar or pine, I carve the roofs and paint them
Mike of Station1528
 
I work full-time at a brick and mortar place so I only get to do my kiln and clay work on occasions. It is all for fun and what extra I have I put on Etsy. It has been a real treat learning to use Etsy and meeting so many nice folks. I think Etsy is great.
I have no training or education in ceramics or art but do things from scratch and figure them out as I go along. The angels with messages are special and I am working on an Angel Project. I'm going to paint acrylic paintings of angels and give them away in exchange for a handwritten/stamped post card. I'm working on that so if you would like an original handpainted angel let me know. Thanks so much for your interest in my little shop and my little world.
Note from Sue: If you are one of our CAST guys and haven't sent in your info, please get it to me if you would like to be included.  Thanks!

Comments (13)

On April 8, 2010 at 11:03 AM , Anonymous said...

Awesome post! great to meet the men (& couples) of CAST!

 
On April 8, 2010 at 11:19 AM , Sea of Dreams said...

What a great piece--the world tears men/fathers down and it's great to see these guys being honored! So glad to have found these shops.

 
On April 8, 2010 at 11:58 AM , Unknown said...

You did a great job, featuring our men displaying their talents. Thanks for including Phil from our shop.

 
On April 8, 2010 at 12:19 PM , Princess Daffy said...

What a lovely post to honor our Guys~whether they work alone, or with a partner,spouse, etc!

Great to get a look at, and read about each one a bit :o)

 
On April 8, 2010 at 12:48 PM , Anonymous said...

Well done, guys!

 
On April 8, 2010 at 2:41 PM , Julie Riisnaes said...

Really good to meet you all - hope you do well and get lots of sales!

 
On April 8, 2010 at 3:08 PM , Vicki said...

This is a great post! I was familiar with only two of the artists featured here. It was great to find out about these other artists. All of the work by these men or men/women teams is really beautiful and their stories are so interesting.

 
On April 8, 2010 at 3:16 PM , button said...

What talented castteam menfolk!
Wonderful to meet you.
:o) button

 
On April 8, 2010 at 6:23 PM , WolfCreekMill said...

It is so nice to see other guys making really nice art/items and selling on Etsy. I am proud to be included in such fine company...Dave

 
On April 8, 2010 at 7:13 PM , My 7th Heaven said...

WOW Who knew there were so many men on our CAST team! I love reading about all of them. Great feature.

~Anastasia
mattscraftywife

 
On April 8, 2010 at 7:25 PM , Deb (Two Cheeky Monkeys) said...

A lovely post and so nice to "see" some of our CAST members. It was fun to find out a little more about each of these team members.

 
On April 8, 2010 at 7:37 PM , pfd said...

This was so interesting to meet each of you. Joel, hope you have lots of great sales...congrats!

 
On April 10, 2010 at 3:49 PM , J Honda said...

WOW WOW WOW!!! I just love this blog - what a wonderful wonderful post!! Glory To God in the HIGHEST!! He lives in YOU ALL!!!