These are the fascinating pictures of miniature table sculptures molded around bonsai trees that take up to a painstaking 18 months to create. Japanese illustrator Takanori Aiba, 58, has built the intriguing scale models of windmills, lighthouses and even the Michelin Man.He delicately uses craft paper, plaster, acrylic resin, paint and plastic to create the host of sprawling miniature communities that wrap around the tiny trees.Following his work as an illustrator for Japanese fashion magazine POPYE he has spent the last nine years producing the detailed mini worlds.The creations take at least three months to construct with his Ice Cream Package Tower taking an astonishing 18 months work. Since 2003, he has made eight models, with 10 more planned over the next few years.
AT first glance these images could easily be mistaken for photographs, but they are in-fact real life drawings created using nothing but coloured pencils .
AN American accountant has grown the world's biggest MELON and smashed his way into the record books with his mammoth 350 .
A mum from Gloucestershire has accepted her four-year-old twin son’s decision to live full time as a girl - and is now letting him wear a skirt to school .
A GIRL nicknamed JAWS by bullies who taunted her because of her underbite is em-bracing her new post-surgery life .
EAGERLY BITING his nails, this little squirrel is clearly nervous of looming predators as he searches for his meal .
A little girl who lost all four limbs to meningitis has taken her first steps since the illness thanks to her new 'Princess legs' .
Meet the human CCTV: a PCSO with a memory for faces so sharp he has apprehended more than 130 suspects in the last year alone with his eagle eyed talents .
AN expectant mum suffered crippling contractions lasting a gruelling two months, due to complications from a rare condition .
A Hereford woman has lost 10st 3lbs after ditching her £260-a-month takeaway habit .
Red squirrels are well known for their intelligence and curiosity but when one snapper caught this furry little guy trying to take his own self-portrait he couldn't help but be taken aback .
SOARING through the air, a hungry white-tailed kite prepares to snatch a vole from his mother’s claws .
Fishermen in Myanmar have perfected an unusual fishing technique by carefully balancing on one leg .