While the rest of the world braces for a white wintry spectacle, it’s been rain, rain and MORE rain all month long here. These pretty handmade couture umbrellas from Parasolerie Heurtault might just tempt someone into braving the gloomy weather. From top, Bagatelle embroidered parasol featuring a carved mahagony handle, Colette haute couture umbrella and Albert men’s brolly.

Lace and frills — Ayako waterproof silk haute couture parasol,  La Parisienne frilly shade, Brighton black sunshade, Biarritz embroidered UV treated sun shade,  Grace haute couture umbrella in white taffetta white black Chantilly lace.

Garden Plissé umbrella with hypnotic pattern. Transparent brollies, Neptune, in black and stripes.

Bridal parasols (ombrelles mariage) — Isabelle, Longchamps, Morgane and Opera. More designs from Parasolerie Heurtault by Michel Heurtault here.

In the latest installment of Annie Leibovitz’s Disney Dream Portraits series we have Penelope Cruz as Belle and Jeff Bridges her prince in a shot title  “Tale As Old As Time”, inspired by “Beauty and the Beast” (above) and Olivia Wilde as the Evil Queen and Alec Baldwin the Spirit in the Magic Mirror in a scene entitled “Famed Is Thy Beauty”, inspired by “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (below).

Queen Latifah as Ursula the Sea Witch from “The Little Mermaid”.

Which one is your favourite photos from this series? I liked Scarlett Johansson as Cinderella and Tina Fey as Tinkerbell but Penelope as Belle is my new favorite!

And if you missed out on the rest of his collection, here are more great disney fantasy photographs by Annie Leibovitz

Peterpan:  Gisele Bundchen as Wendy Darling , Mikhail Baryshnikov as Peterpan, Tinay Fey as Tinker Bell.

You can’t really see Tinay Fey unless you have really zoomed in to a really large image. But here’s how she looks like magnified.

Julie Andrews as the ethereal Blue Fairy in Pinocchio and Abigail Breslin as dainty Fira, one of the Disney Fairies.

Cinderella: Scarlett Johansson as Cinderella, one of my favourites.

Daisy Balloon beautiful dresses and accessories fashioned from balloons by Japanese balloon artist, Rie Hosokai. Aren’t these just amazing?!

Elevating balloon modeling: In her hands, tubular balloons are twisted and formed into high fashion works of arts.

These photos are from IKEA baking cookbook called Hembakat är Bäst (Homemade is Best), photographed by Carl Kleiner and styled by Evelina Bratell (who worked on the Real Life Barbie photo shoot). What a novel way to show ingredients for a recipe.

This picture below makes me wanna bake something right now! Mmm… softened butter and dark chocolate.

Love how the flour mounds are styled, they remind me of the colorful spice pyramids at the souks of Morocco.

This is an Itazura cat in a box coin bank. You put a coin on the little white plate outside the cardboard box and then a sneaky little kitten will stick its tiny paw out and steal your coin. It sounds weird and annoying but oh-so-cute! I love the Chatora (ginger tabby) version above.

Watch the cuteness in action:

The money-grabbing pet substitute also comes in brown and cream Chihuahua puppy dog and white American shorthair kitty versions. So kawaii!

Available at Strapya World or you can buy from Amazon here:

Itazura Stealing Coin Dog Chihuahua Puppy Coin Bank
Itazura Stealing Coin Cat Brown Chatora Kitty Coin Bank