Sneak Peeks and Shopping for Miniatures Road Trip

 

It used to be that people would make projector slideshows of their vacations... today's equivalent can be jazzed up with AI-generated travel brochures.

My route between Michigan City, Indiana and La Quinta, California could have stood some jazzing up. For the most part, it looked like this:

and a little bit like this:

Fittingly, I spotted the barn set in Indiana and the ranch house in California. 

Happily, there was also a little bit of this along the way (also California):

While the Michigan City/Indiana Dunes area is a perfect summer getaway, you might be wondering why I ended my trip in La Quinta, California (25 miles southeast of Palm Springs) on a day when the temperature was 113 degrees.

Luckily for me, the National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts (NAME) convention was California Dreaming in the right place at the right time.

I just arrived for the sale on their last day, so unfortunately missed attending the perfect class for me:

Maybe next time! Meanwhile, the salesroom and exhibits were impressive enough. In my enthusiasm, I missed getting some of the vendor's and maker's names. I'll give credit where I can.

{Seaside Miniatures}

Most of the vendors were offering things smaller than 1:12 scale. Is this the new trend? 

{Gilbert Mena}

{Carl's Miniatures (no online store)}

I especially admired the basket and "stained glass" artists.

{Smalls Mini Mall}

The exhibited projects were amazing and inspiring:

{Outlander --Claire's room by Marilyn Taylor}

{Peggy Zorn}

{Evelyn Naimo}

{Althea Baker}

{Diane Alterman}

Here's what came home with me from the show:

Here's my over-all trip haul:

I have projects either in mind or in the works for most of the pieces, but I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that miniatures fit so well inside my suitcase! 

My current project is a British flat over a pub from the Apple TV show Ted Lasso. This is the room I'm re-creating in miniature:

It's a bit contemporary for me, and I'm enjoying the challenge.

From the small to the very, very big--- do you recognize this manor in Pasadena?

It's been featured on TV in numerous productions, most notably as Wayne Manor on the Batman TV series. I've shown it before because it's across the street from Kristen Wiig's house and she used it in her movie Bridesmaids.

It's on the market now, so I thought you'd be as excited as I am to peek inside:

There aren't a lot of photos, and It's probably a good thing I haven't seen it on TV recently. I'd want to re-create it and it's too hard to match if it were mine, let alone if it were mini!

The listing for it is here.