Marlene Brooker shows the greeting card that features a photograph of her greatgreat grandfather. Hallmark Cards selected the photo and an accompanying phrase as a winning entry in a recent contest. When Marlene Brooker’s greatgreat grandfather posed for a photo while smoking his pipe many, many years ago, he most likely never envisioned his image being viewed by millions of people in the year 2011 on the cover of a Hallmark greeting card with the words “You’re smokin’ hot” inside the card.

As one of the winners of Hallmark’s “Remember When: Last Call” greeting card contest, that is exactly what happened when Brooker, a Freehold Township resident, came upon her great-great-grandfather’s photo while searching for an image that she could use to enter the contest.

Brooker, who is a graphic designer and photographer, said she has enjoyed creating her own birthday cards and holiday cards for family members and friends over the years, and she thought the contest would be a good opportunity to see if she could do it professionally.

“This contest was to find vintage photos, and we looked through some old family photos and found this photo of my greatgreat grandfather smoking a pipe,” Brooker said.

“There were five categories you could enter, and one was ‘Love and Flirts,’ so since he was smoking a pipe, it got me thinking of the word ‘smoking’ and I entered the phrase, ‘You’re smokin’ hot!’ ” she said.

The other categories in the greeting card contest were “Miss You,” “Thank You,” “Congratulations” and “Just for Laughs.”

According to a press release from Hallmark, judges looked for cards with nostalgic, funny photos on the cover and writing that worked well together and could be sent to many different people.

As one of the 32 winners of Hallmark’s 20th consumer-created card contest, Brooker received $250 and her card is currently being sold online at the website www.hallmark.com. If her card is chosen to be one of the in-store winners, her card will be displayed in Hallmark stores and she will receive an additional $250. The importance of photos is not lost on Brooker, who has worked as a photographer and graphic designer alongside her father, Alan Brooker, of Alan S. Brooker Photography, Freehold Township, for many years.

Marlene said, “The photo was in good shape and had a really nice vintage look — that sepia look that shouts ‘old photo’when you look at all those great pictures of your ancestors and you could just get a feel for the time with the clothing and the hats they are wearing and how they are posing. It just kind of brings you back to a certain time in history, and I think it really kind of grabs you.”

Marlene also has her own business, Marlene’s Fantastic Foto Favors, in which she does photo favors with custom artwork and creative photo montages for special events and parties for individuals and corporations.