Making Sports photo trading cards

For many families with young children, the summer sports season is wrapping up.  That also means team and sports photos.  We all want to savor those special moments, and to also share them with friends and family.  I'm no different.  When my oldest wrapped up t-ball this week, I wanted to do something special to preserve those memories.  I'm a bit of an hobbyist photographer and my kids are not surprisingly, my favorite subjects.  They've been trained to not even think anything of having my camera shoved in their faces.  To them, it's as natural as a kid begging for ice cream on a hot day.

I got the idea to turn some photos into trading cards from one of my kid's teammates. They'd ordered some cards through the team photographer, but cheap ass me only ordered a couple of prints, figuring the cards were a gimmick.  When I saw them, I thought they were so cute that I decided to give it a shot to make my own.  (Really, there's no shortage of photos I've taken this season. I'm sure I annoyed the opposing teams plenty by sticking my butt in their faces while trying to get a great action shot.)  I'm fairly savvy with Photoshop so I knew it wasn't going to be too much of a challenge, but when I came across this easy to use template and interface from HP, I figured making it myself from scratch was little more than reinventing the wheel.

So if you have a little one in sports or know of one, give it a whirl.  HP has templates for a wide variety of sports from baseball to basketball, to hockey and more.  Give it a try!  It's free!  All you do is upload the photo, pick your design, type out your text, save it (you might want to format it in Photoshop....I did) and send it to print with your favorite photo finisher.

Picture People: Free portrait package!

Picture People is giving away a free portrait package! Here's the ad which contains the coupon you need to redeem the offer. (Follow the link on the ad to get your coupon. Make sure your printer is ready to print the coupon.)

Package includes:
one 8x10
two 5x7
8 wallets

All have to be the same image.
Offer expires July 25, 2009.

Shutterfly

Place an order and you’ll receive an award for 50 free 4x6 prints.* You’ll have until November 5, 2008 to redeem your award.

Offer ends October 13, 2008.

Enter code PRINTS4YOU in your shopping cart.

*Qualifying orders do not include any prepaid or membership plans, gift certificates, film mailer bundles or orders place for in–store pickup. Discounts, promotions or awards cannot be applied to purchases made from Shutterfly Pro galleries. After your qualifying order has been shipped, the award will be automatically applied to your account and customers will have until 11/5/2008 to redeem their award. Shipping and handling charges will apply to the order.

Sears Portrait Studio

I know these are usually in abundance, but this seems like one of the better ones.

Sears Portrait Studio:
- custom portraits as low as $2.99
- 35 portraits for $9.99
- free 10x13 classic wall portrait
- 10% off entire purchase (excluding the 35 portraits for $9.99 package)

Make sure you read the fine print, there are quite a few stipulations.

Click here for coupon.

Offer expires Jan 4, 2009

Carters, Osh Kosh & Misc

- Carters: 50-70% off during their scary big sale!
Click here for 25% off $35 good through Sept 24, 2008. Carter's Gift Cheque is also redeemable until Sept 30, 2008.

- Osh Kosh: 50-60% off savings going on in stores now!
Click here for 20% off $50 purchase through Sept 24, 2008.

- Picture People: Free portrait plus 25% off additional in-studio purchase. Coupon here

- Joann: 20% off one item online only. Use promo code EJD268. Good through Sept 24, 2008.

- Michaels: 50% off any one regular price item. Coupon here.

- Rite Aid: 25 free photo prints. PDF coupon here. Expires 12/31/08

- Lucky Jeans: 30% off entire purchase valid through 9/21/2008 on select items at Lucky Brand Jeans. Use code 8ESVP. (May be one time use only, not sure.) Not valid at outlet stores.

- Great Books Foundation:
Free books, free shipping. Link to list of free books.