I'm a Giant . finished for now

The studio apartMac is finally finished! I took some photos before we went out of town last week but I had some technical difficulties and only managed to upload a couple of quick shots to Flickr. I am happy with what's here but I'm going to take advantage of the extension to edit a little bit and refine some pieces.

I stuck closely to my inspiration and I think it all came together. Of course, my favorite bits are the little macbook and iPad from lilushop (thanks to Modern Mini Houses for the tip).

The billy balls that my assistant (3 years old!) and I made are perfect in the eBay vase.

I've seen this wood slice wall art around the internet a good bit so I had Mr. Lemon chop up some sticks and I glued them above the fireplace (another cheap eBay find). The little houses are from a vendor at Handmade Arcade and the birch logs are from Gigi N Studio.

I'm most proud of the wood shelf. It was a scrap leftover from the fireplace slices and it fit perfectly above the sink (that's a chair from the Irwin Interior Decorator set).

These are just a few of my favorite vignettes. With the extension, I'll be able to take better photos in different light and get some good views of the whole thing. The iMac is a beautiful piece of design but it's so hard to shoot the scene!

I'm a Giant . making some progress

It probably seems like I haven't been working on my studio apartMac but that's not true. It's just that I've been doing all these little things that don't look like much. I spent a very long time on the stone floor. The vinyl sheets were from eBay and I had to cut them to the size of the base which meant stacking one on top of the other. To make it look more realistic, I cut away the top layer in a stone pattern then sealed up the seam. You can't tell in the right lighting that it is not one piece.

I also worked on the kitchen unit. I made a farm sink out of pieces from the Irwin Interior Decorator Set. I think it looks pretty good although I do need to touch it up a bit and attach the bar table.

On the left side of the unit, I'm building a wall behind that fireplace. I have an art piece in mind that I'm very excited about. If I use the Petite Princess chair, I will paint it so that it looks like grey leather. This tiny space can seat more than 10 guests! And there is so much more in store. I'm hoping to finish up this weekend.

While I enjoy holiday crafting and all the sewing I've been doing for the doll I bought my assistant for Christmas, it always feels right to work on the minis.

I'm a Giant!

I have been wanting to jump into the I'm a Giant mini challenge since it was first announced but I felt like I couldn't just make a scene in a roombox like I always do because it's a challenge and I wanted to do something really cool.

Then I remembered it. The iMacquarium! A while back I had come across these things when trying to figure out what the heck to do with that massive old iMac we had collecting dust in the basement. I tried to get Mr. Lemon to help me make a dollhouse with it then and he said no.

But here he is now with the 143 blog getting inspiration from their geodesic dome house. We have one of these (in real size) in our neighborhood and stalk it regularly.

I don't know why he changed his mind but we set to work right away. On my laptop screen is the pdf we found on the iMacquarium site telling you how to take apart the computer. Unfortunately it stops where it gets hard but we figured it out.

Here's where we are in the process now. The shell needs surprisingly little to stay together and weighs next to nothing. I've started a Pinterest board with all my inspiration. This weekend I'm going to troll through my minis and start pulling some pieces. I know that I want to use bits of the computer as accessories. I'm hoping to use the roundy parts the speakers are incased in to make a hanging fireplace. I'm excited to get started. We have already been to Michaels for supplies and Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater for proper inspiration.

Oh, and if you do decide to take your iMac apart, it might help to know that the colorful part of the case isn't tab in slot like the rest of it, it's more like these pull down tabs in slots so don't try to pry it out, you have to tug it down before pulling it out or you will break one of the tabs off like we did.