“Thelma Levett’s life is just a load of hot air. For 15 years Mrs Levett has spent her life blowing up balloons and twisting them into everyday objects. And now inspired by the Duchess of Cambridge she has even made a replica of the most talked about wedding dress in history for her daughter Vicky, 21. The balloon ‘Kate’ wedding dress has taken 5,000 balloons to create and even has replica lace sleeves that Kate wowed the public with on her wedding day in April this year. Mrs Levett, 54, who lives in Hinckley, Leicestershire, said: ‘I was really inspired when I saw Kate’s wedding dress on television. ‘I’d made a few balloon dresses before and had even had a go at making a wedding dress, so I thought I would make a replica of Kate’s.” w/ photos

“They are humans’ closest relative, sharing a similar genetic make-up and displaying behaviour not unlike our own. Now this little chimpanzee is showing off a motherly instinct to rival even the most maternal of mankind. These adorable images reveal the close bond that has formed between a two-year-old chimpanzee called Do Do and a two-month-old tiger cub called Aorn. Completely at ease in each other’s company, the ape’s motherly instincts take over as she attentively bottle feeds the baby tiger. Aorn gratefully laps up the milk as Do Do tenderly holds the tiger in her arms. At one point, Do Do puts the bottle in her own mouth – almost mimicking the actions of a human mother checking to see if the milk is suitable for her offspring to consume.” w/ photos

“When Miguel Hanson and Diana Wesley get married today, they won’t stand before a gray haired minister holding a Bible. Instead, they’ll be looking at a 30-inch monitor. Mr Hanson, a Houston, Texas web developer and IT consultant, created a minister software program when the couple couldn’t get a friend to serve as the minister at their wedding. On one half of the screen, they’ll see a virtual minister with an animated, square face with blue eyes and thin, oval glasses. His voice will be heard over a sound system while the text of what he’s saying will show up on the other half of the screen. ‘I was like, you know I’m going to write my own minister,’ Mr Hanson said.” w/ photos

“This picture shows two dragonflies making love in the most romantic way – by forming a heart shape. Shocked Chelyapin Dmitry almost choked on his picnic as he sat with his family by a lake near his hometown of Chelyabinsk, Russia. Out of the corner of his eye, he was stunned to see the pair creating the universal sign of love. Chelyapin quickly dropped his sandwiches and grabbed his point-and-shoot digital camera to snap this incredible close-up picture of the moment.” w/ photo

“In these days of soaring fuel prices it could be the perfect answer for a Hell’s Angels chapter keen to keep costs down. Colin Furze’s 72ft motorbike can seat 25 – and what’s more he’s proved it can be driven at speeds of 35mph. Admittedly only Mr Furze was on the bike at the time of the test drive, but with a few suspension modifications it’s possible he could load up with passengers, as pictured here. The Lincolnshire plumber, at the head of the bike, used one-and-a-half 125cc mopeds and an extended aluminum frame to create the machine. He is hoping it will be recognized as the world’s longest motorbike by the Guinness Book of Records.” w/ photos

“This remarkable motorbike looks like it’s straight out of a film set – but remarkably an artist has made it out of spare parts. The Bangkok worker used recycled materials from old cars and bicycles to create a monster machine which is sculpted to look like a beast. Despite being cobbled together from scrap parts, the spectacular motorcycle works – unlike many sci-fi film props.” w/ photos

“A mother-of-two has celebrated her divorce by getting a full-body tattoo – from her new boyfriend. Jacqui Moore, 41, has had 85 per cent of her flesh inked with a continuous black and grey ‘full body-suit’ tattoo, a process which has taken eight years. Just her left armpit, half her right leg and most of her face has been left uncovered. But she hopes to complete the tattoo by getting the final 15 per cent of her body daubed next Spring. Jacqui, a gardener at a private school in Oxford, fell for tattooist Andreas Moore, nicknamed ‘Curly’, 45, after divorcing from her husband Martin in March 2003 after a seven-year marriage. She said: ‘I went to get a new tattoo to symbolise my freedom and the new chapter in my life. When I got to the parlour I met Curly and we fell in love and he has been tattooing me since.” w/ photos

“These incredible pictures show the extraordinary skill and ingenuity employed by orang-utans to get the fruit they crave. Using an old rag, almost like a zipwire, they hang from a ropeway above the bushes in their compound at the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust on Jersey and lower their way to the best fruits. They drag the rag across the distance between trees holding up a rope and once they’ve got to where they want to be they just hang down and take the juicy berries below.” w/ photos

“To some it may just be a potato but for Harry Potter fan Ronnie Todd it bears a striking resemblance to the boy wizard’s arch-enemy Lord Voldemort. The 49-year-old Muggle unearthed the unusual looking potato – which is four times the larger than the average size, in his garden in Southampton, Hants. And after washing off the soil he was struck by the uncanny resemblance it bears to the evil wizard who is played by Ralph Fiennes in the blockbuster films. Mr Todd said the potato looked like it had two eyes, a stubby nose and grimacing mouth – which gave it the look of Voldemort. He said: ‘I couldn’t believe it when I pulled it out the ground. It was supposed to be a small new potato, perfect with steak and salad, but this was gigantic. It’s like nothing I’ve seen before.” w/ photos

“When it came to choosing a pet, one family went the whole hog. The Squicciarini family from Lecco, Italy adopted piglet Cesira she was just two months old and the smallest piglet of the litter. But after a diet of pigging out on biscuits, ice cream and sweets Cesira has ballooned to just over 196lbs. Father Ali, wife Marina and their children, Joel, 13 and Rebecca, 17, saved Cesira from the chop. She was one of 20 pigs bred for meat, but the family fell in love with the little piglet and bought her home. But the pet porker has now grown into a 196lbs hog, she sleeps in her own kennel of the balcony of the family’s flat.” w/ photos