I figured I might as well create a thread with respect to my Minecraft world to date, to the extent anyone may find it interesting. It's taken a lot of mining for the resources to do this. I originally did normal mines like most people, however I ultimately decided to multipurpose my mining, so I built numerous mine cart tracks near bedrock level that span the map. That way, the mine shaft serves some purpose when it's all done. For the glass and sandstone, I largely mined out the beaches (including a fair amount of sand under water through the construction of massive glass levee systems). I covered up the ugly cofferdams with plazas, water features, etc. I also tried to find substitute resources where possible. For instance, instead of white wool, I more often used snow blocks, which are quicker to obtain. Finally, I created structures to assist in gathering resources. For instance, I have a huge cactus farm that reaches to the height limit of the game with a pool and underground tunnels below that deliver the cacti directly to my base for processing into green dye, and ultimately green wool.
I'll start with a few of the videos I've made so far:
[view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prb4Wi_U5jg]
[view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlbRY17uJZk]
[view:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNFymHNK8Uk]