I used to be a big Iron Chef watcher (and I’m talking the original Japanese version, not the sort of lame Iron Chef America that’s on now). I’ve always thought it would be cool if there was a crafty version. Like, “you’ve got a bunch of random materials and you’ve got to craft something now!”

OK, so maybe we don’t need the pressure of crafting in an hour. But people who take random things and make them into useful, fun and awesome things still amaze the heck out of me. Like erinzam over at Etsy, who made this wicked awesome book:

Dude! It’s a cassette! It’s Foreigner, for crying out loud! It’s, um, rather rad.

Found objects are the name of the game at erinzam. In her profile, she says she loves making journals from found objects. No cassette tapes around? No problem. Try on this journal for size, made from a drapery sample:

You will also find original prints and paintings in the shop, like this:

There’s a great selection of stuff … do check it out!

Tags: erinzam, found objects, journals, paintings, recycling, repurposing