Have you ever used Etsy's Pounce feature?

It's fun to use, but it's also a useful business tool. Instead of searching Etsy to see what's for sale, you can use Pounce to see what people are actually BUYING. You can also use it to find successful shops so you can visit them to see what they are doing right. It's an amusing way to do market research.

Give it a try!

by Sue of SueRunyonDesigns

by Rita of sammysgrammy

 
SMOKED SALMON ~ CREAM CHEESE APPETIZER

This a a wonderfully easy recipe to assemble for all those "dish to pass" summertime picnics and patio parties you'll attend this summer. It's "out of the ordinary". Watch that plate empty in lightening speed!!

8 ounces of room temperature low fat cream cheese (Neufchatel)
1/4 cup of mayonnaise
2 green onion (tops only) diced
1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley

Stir all the above ingredients to blend. Then gently add 4 ounces of smoked salmon (diced)


One long French baguette, sliced long ways, but not all the way through. Leave a hinge to open and close the loaf. 
With your fingers, scoop out the soft center of the bottom half. With a spoon, fill the loaf with the cream cheese/salmon mixture. 
Close up the loaf. Wrap in Saran and refrigerate a couple hours or overnight. 
Unwrap and slice carefully into slices and mound attractively onto a serving plate. And off to the party you go.



by Rita of sammysgrammy

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:



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!


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.