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.
WELCOME to the Hidden Beach - the world's most idyllic BOMB SITE .
GLAMPING is taken to a whole new level in the form of the luxurious Pop-Up Hotel .
A cheeky owl fancies a game of hide and seek as it peeps out from behind a tree .
A BIKINI swim with jellyfish sounds like the most painful past-time on the planet .
A lazy tree frog, tired of hopping along a branch, chooses the slowest form of transport when it jumps on top of an unsuspecting snail .
HUDDLED together on a branch, a pair of adorable Javan scops owls soak up the sun .
An aerial view of flooding in Gloucestershire .
These are the faces of orphans suffering from the horrifying effects of chemical warfare .
CLINGING onto nothing but ice, this brave climber reaches heights of 1000 FEET as he scales frozen solid waterfalls .
Lauren Kilgariff, 29, was with husband, Shaun, 31, for four years .
A retired foster carer has spent a whopping £48k on her brood of lifelike dolls .