Happy Holidays

Dec 25, 2000

Grand-prize winner

An election to remember: The entry of Larry Asher, Marcia Dare and Lauren Asher of Mercer Island was an obvious winner. This card was creative - from the envelope with Uncle Sam stamps to the two-sided ballot on which each candidate stated why he or she should win, and cleverly told what activities had consumed their year. "As always, reality is stranger than fiction, so we just went with the biggest story of the year," Larry explained. "So far none of these cards has been returned due to hanging chads. . . "

Grand-prize winner

The Jakemon craze: This set of basic Jakemon cards was designed in response to last year's Pokemon craze by mom Karen Yee Chan, who has her own calligraphy and design business. The card set includes Sweet Jakemon and Fussy Jakemon, and each describes son Jake's mood and imparts a Christmas wish. But here's the best part: This entry was mailed on the way to the hospital to deliver Jakemon's sister. Congratulations Karen, David, Jacob (34 months old), and Madelyn Chan, 20 days old.

"Peace, Joy and Salmon": Sally Cole of Medina submitted this delightfully silly card her family made from a photo taken off Restoration Point in October, with silver pipe cleaners cut and shaped into reindeer antlers.

"Peas on Earth": David Osheskie of Redmond, a newcomer to this area, mailed people on his holiday card list an otherworldly message designed with Adobe Illustrator on his computer.

"Now look what you did!": The Kingdome implosion inspired several entries this year but this spoof was our judges' favorite. "We have two very active boys," explained Dan and Cynthia Hemphill of Bellevue. "When we watched the Kingdome implosion, we couldn't help but think of them and their rambunctious personalities." So Nathan, 6, and Evan, 2, were driven to the site and everyone pretended the boys had destroyed the dome.