Washington ? Hallmark’s biggest order in years bears a Crawford, Texas, postmark and was made in Lawrence, Kan.

More than 1.5 million friends, personal and political, of the first family should get the White House holiday cards this week. The most prized cards bear personal greetings. Most don’t.

All show a watercolor scene chosen by Laura Bush of the fireplace and mantel of the White House Diplomatic Reception Room. A portrait of George Washington, flanked by candelabras, hangs over the mantel. A wreath of fruits frames the fireplace, in which a fire roars.

When a White House aide called artist Barbara Ernst Prey of Oyster Bay, N.Y., to ask her to paint the 2003 holiday card, Prey couldn’t say yes fast enough.

“It’s such an honor to be asked — apart from thinking about where the cards go,” Prey said Thursday.

The Bushes gave her free rein of the White House, Prey said. From her five preliminary sketches, Laura Bush picked the Diplomatic Reception Room one.

To achieve the look of an oil painting with watercolors, Prey applied layer upon layer of paint with detailed brush strokes. She visited the reception room repeatedly over five months because she likes to paint from life. She had to imagine the holiday decorations, however.

Laura Bush sometimes dropped by.

“She was open and wanted to see what I’d come up with,” Prey said.

“I would defer to her in any situation — not because she’s the first lady, but because she has a great eye and she knows a lot about art,” she said.

First pets Barney, a Scottish terrier, and Spot, an English springer spaniel, sometimes watched her work, too, Prey said.

Barney also showed up Thursday for Laura Bush’s show-and-tell of White House holiday decorations. The decorations are mainly a display of characters from classic children’s books, such as the Hardy Boys and Harry Potter, and an 18 1/2-foot Fraser fir from Wisconsin.

Once, while Prey was at work, she found herself sharing the reception room with The Temptations, who were there to entertain lawmakers at a picnic.

“Normally, I’d ask for their autographs,” she said of the popular singing group. “This time, I just wanted them to move out of my way so I could paint.”

Inside the card is inscribed a psalm and a message of peace: “You have granted me life and loving kindness; and your care has preserved my spirit (Job 10:12),” the card reads. “May you celebrate the joys of faith, family and friendship this holiday season and always. 2003.”

Deidre Parkes, spokeswoman for Kansas City, Mo.-based Hallmark, said the Bushes’ card was the company’s biggest personal order in three years. The card was made at the Hallmark plant in Lawrence — the third consecutive year the plant has produced the presidential card.