Missy Wyzkoski

There’s No Place Like “GNOMEVILLE”

 Hello, my name is Missy Wyzkoski, crafter and owner of Mason Brandd Creations, LLC, from Mars, Pennsylvania. One of my bucket list items was to be a vendor at my personal favorite craft show-Christmas in the Woods…and this year (2022) I get to cross that item off the list! I have crafted so many different things over the years, but it’s my gnomes that have really been a big hit!   Gnomeville has expanded to over a thousand gnomes at this point (I’ve seriously lost count) and many of them have been named and even given jobs/titles; shoppers seem   to really enjoy the backstory and humor. 

 Allow me to introduce a few of the crew before I tell you about myself…Phoster is the lil guy sitting and holding the mushroom - named after my late grandfather-in-law, Norman Foster, a man that loved his family like no other. The firefighter is named after my first fire chief, Gene Winters, who sadly also passed away not too long ago. Under him, that’s Nixon, his body is made from a jumbo sized cheese-ball container! Nixon is named after a lady I used to work with who really taught me a lot about recycling, her passion…infectious; her name, Lynn Nixon. 

  I use a lot of recycled goods like clothing/materials, plastic containers/bags, cardboard, and a myriad of other items.

 Not all the gnomes are rooted in reality though, Pinelopee (holding snow covered pine cones) is the Mayor of Gnomeville, and the three pictured on page 18, they’re brothers, all serving on the Protection Against Trolls Squad (PATS for short, the gnome military of sorts). 

 My gnomes are typically one of a kind as there is no innovation (or fun) in repetition for me. I don’t know how to sew (even a simple button will do me in), but give me a glue gun and it’s game on! (I took shop class in high school, that may explain it!) I’ve tried learning to crochet multiple times and continually make mis-shapen pieces (never squares or rectangles)…which turn out to make awesome gnome hats! 

 Outside of Gnomeville I am married to a very tolerant husband, Jim, who I met as a firefighter (YEARS ago) for Cranberry Township, just north of Pittsburgh. We have two kids, Ryleigh (19) and Mason (12), a GoldenDoodle, a Maltipoo, and a Chinchilla (Jax, Sammee, Scooter). 

 About me…I grew up an Air Force Brat, moving every three years; I was a firefighter for almost 5 years (in my younger years); I am currently a Regional HR Business Partner for Lanxess in Pittsburgh (https://career.lanxess.com/) and I absolutely love to innovate and to travel (not necessarily at the same time).   

 Visit our Facebook page www.Facebook.com/MasonBrandd.

 I am at booth #110, stop by and say hello! We will have a Build Your Own Gnome table for the kiddos…run by my niece Cassidy Batchelor and my son, Mason.