Put Your Cell Phone Pictures on a Stamp

You know how much fun it is to take camera phone pictures and send them to your friends. Now you can really send them via regular mail. A new service called PhotoStamps lets you upload the photos you've taken with your digital camera or cell phone and have them printed on actual postage stamps. In addition to electronic photos, you can also upload art that you've created with a graphics program or old family memories that you've scanned into your computer.

So, let's see what you can do with these photo stamps. It's vacation time. Make your family and friend's eyes bug out when they get a postcard with a stamp showing you laying on the beach or fishing at the lake.

It's also wedding season. A picture of the lovely couple would make a great stamp for the invitations. Or perhaps put the parents on the invitation stamp and the newlyweds on the thank you notes. It won't be that long until the new baby gets a stamp for the arrival notices. In fact, cute babies are a perennial favorite. Birthdays and anniversary cards contain an extra surprise when you use a custom made photo stamp.

The next semester will be starting sooner that you'd like to think. PhotoStamps of the family will certainly be a welcome sight to that far away student. If you're the student, send the folks your mug on that letter home. Just try not to pose in somebody's Jaguar convertible if you are begging for money.

Or, maybe you'd just like to take some crazy shots of you and your friends goofing around that you can share among the insiders. You can have your own group stamp. It's even more fun than stuffing one of those photo booths at the mall and you can get new picture stamps by ordering online anytime you want.

And then there's the dog. Just what IS that funny pooch up to now? Capture him in a snapshot and you've got your own "pet stamp." Seems that should also work for cats, hamsters, chatty birds or your lovable 4H cow.

You know how popular those family holiday letters are? This year, send them with an actual picture of the family on the stamp. Or put them on your greeting cards. In fact, a sheet of personalized stamps would make a great gift all by itself.

OK, that's just a few ideas. I'm sure you've got the picture, so to speak. Now all you have to do it get your favorite shot on some stamps.

There are a few no-nos you should be aware of. No naughty pictures. You know what I mean. Also, no uploading celebrity likenesses, politicians, world leaders or infamous individuals. There is a list of content restrictions, but you're unlikely to run afoul of the rules if you stick to pictures you take yourself and are willing to show your family and friends.


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