Each year, I try to come up with an original card to send to select friends and family members. This year, my inspiration was a vintage card that we had found in an antique store. The original had a 1930-40s era graphic of county fair scenes and I remembered some pen & ink sketches I had made from photographs taken at the 1992 Hamilton County Fair (Ohio). I scanned my sketches of some kids with sheep and a ferris wheel, the Agricultural Building, some ponies, and a horse barn that my father had used for his harness horses dating back to the early 1950s.
I found some beige card stock that closely matched the original and ordered blue ribbons with the imprint, Have a Blue Ribbon Year. I filled in the name of the recipient in the “Awarded to” section and on the left inside of the card there was room for a personal holiday greeting. Since I only needed cards for 11 special people, I printed them out on my home printer.
My passion for county fairs is well known among friends and family, so I felt this was an appropriate card for me to send.
LILLIAN'S CUPBOARD 
