This has been quite an exciting week. It started off on Monday when Billie came over to help me teach our friend, Patty, how to play Cribbage. I was getting some killer hands and having a grand old time. Then I got to be part of the fun as The Boy found his first home to purchase. We have really enjoyed the process and are looking forward to working together on decorating his new home. I have been smiling a lot this week and thinking “It just doesn’t get any better than this.”

So what does this have to do with two old lamps, you ask. Those are my old lamps and I’ve been trying to talk The Boy into taking them for more than a year. Every time I brought up the subject his answer was always the same.  “No thanks, they are too 80′s looking.” He always said it in a way that left no doubt in my mind that “too 80s” was code speak for “too ugly to have in any home of mine!”

Then I got a bight idea. He really liked the Bull that The One and Only Michael Putman finished with foil tape so I suggested that we could make over the lamps with a similar technique. Suddenly the ugly 80s lamps were going to get a new home.

I sent The One and Only Michael Putman an email with a couple of questions that I had about his choice of product for this technique and he wrote right back. He provided the answers to my questions (because he is a super cool and nice guy) and posed a couple questions of his own; were the girls and I still getting together to create, and could he join us again.  Could he join us? Are you kidding me? Of course he could!

I told him that the lovely Arlynne would be hosting us at her home on Friday and that he would be gladly welcomed.

Arlynne had picked a couple of projects for us including this paint technique. I got these two pieces finished and then my color muse decided it was time to take a long break. With her gone, the next two were really awful and I tossed them into the trash. Since you all suffered through my scorpion and dead lizard photos with such grace I will spare you having to see just how bad they were. Know this, they were bad, really bad.

While we girls puttered away with our paint and ink – oh darn, I should have taken a picture of Billie’s hands after she discovered the bottle of purple alcohol ink that had leaked all over the case – The One and Only Michael Putman kept himself busy finishing up a couple projects of his own. This fabulous foil collage is one of the pieces he worked on.

I wasn’t kidding when I said that The One and Only Michael Putman was a nice guy.He showed up with a special birthday cake for Chris and I, to wish us a belated birthday. How sweet is that? We all had a good time chatting and working on our projects. When it was time to go, The One and Only Michael Putman picked up all his toys and was starting to leave. I pointed out that he was forgetting his two foil collages and The One and Only Michael Putman informed me that he hadn’t forgotten them, he was leaving them as birthday gifts for Chris and I! I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am about this. I love, love, love my new piece of art and I am thrilled to have a Michael Putman original of my very own. I am one lucky gal and I’m thinking, it doesn’t get any better than this!