Add the query posts showposts, to force the number of excerpts to display, allowing you to be different than the main blog.
Code:
<?php query_posts('showposts=6'); if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
this creates an excerpt post on any template
Code:
<?php echo strip_tags(apply_filters('the_content', get_the_excerpt())); ?>