Here's a shout out to all the dear ladies I met at the HOTS retreat this weekend. My big paper crafting tip of the day is . . . hook up with the Heart of Texas Scrapbook Club. (Just click on their name there to go to their website.) These ladies are just amazing. Their membership of over 400 of the most talented scrapbookers in Texas has raised over $20,000 in charity through their one-day crops and bi-annual retreats. To put it in David Letterman terms - here's my top ten perks of HOTS:
- Learn from the pros and not-so-pros. Many of these ladies teach classes or run their own storefront or direct sales businesses. Some are just fun scrappers but all of them appreciate the obsession that is scrapbooking. Just through osmosis you'll soak up tips for organization, tools, design, shopping bargains . . .
- Crop 'till you drop. I'm telling you, these ladies can crop . . . from sunup to way past sundown (3:00 a.m.!) three days running these ladies stop only to replenish and release body fluids.
- Silent Auction Treasures. A guilt-free way to get rid of some of your gently-used stuff and pick up some dirt-cheap treasures. Proceeds, of course, go to charity, so no guilt!
- "I Did it at the Retreat" Art Show contests
- Okay, let's eat. Fabulous refreshments, you know, like chocolate covered strawberries! Homemade stew. Yummmm.
- Retail therapy. Oh yes, we shop. Vendors like me provide on-site therapy. Scrappers got $10 of "Scrapbucks" to spend on-site.
- On-site massages!
- They have class - yep, classes on site for fun projects (check out my offering below)
- Door Prizes! Yeah baby! One of my table mates brought home a Cricut! I picked up a packet of beautiful BasicGrey paper. Nearly everyone goes home with something.
- And the best of all - Life long friendships. We gotta have our girlfriends, friends who appreciate our need to create.
Enough gabbing . . . here's some pix. (As always, click on them to get a larger image.) 
More than 70 scrapbooking queens in the Temple Hilton Garden Inn. 
No, you do it like this . . . Here's me teaching a few of my tricks.
And, here's the project we put together:
Congratulations, Terry, Margaret, pokie, Marilyn, Sharon, and all, for giving us all a fabulous get-a-way.
