Justin Rowe creates these magical sculptures from hand cut books and found images with the help of just a touch of gum arabic and 24 carat gold or palladium leaf. Some are very much in the realms of fairy stories like the one above, but my favourites are the stories below where Justin’s skill brings the book’s own illustrations to life.

Employees work on a crane above an E-70 wind turbine manufactured by German company Enercon for La Compagnie du Vent during its installation at a wind farm in Meneslies, Picardie region, France July 31, 2014. (Photo by Benoit Tessier/Reuters)

A worker stands by a historic building as it is moved down the block on wheels on New York Avenue to make way for a new construction July 28, 2014 in Washington, DC. A team from Expert House Movers have been moving the historic building near 4th Street which is one of the largest structures in the DC area to be moved. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP Photo)

People will spout about impermanence of digital records, but books are really fragile, too. Alexis Arnold from San Francisco wanted to illustrate that with her project The Crystallized Book: collecting books and growing Borax crystals on them. Books range from literature classics to magazines, and there’s even a mysterious and arcane tome called “Linux: The Complete Manual”.

The under-construction Shard building on December 5, 2011 in London, England. The 80 storey skyscraper will be Europe's tallest mixed-use building when it is completed in May 2012; it will contain offices, restaurants, residential apartments as well as a five star hotel. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)