The Magic Show. I decided for the part of the circus I would illustrate would be the magic show.  

I started by making the background a light bluish grey color and put the vintage circus border for the poster around the outside. Then I added the hand holding out the group of cards. Last for this screenshot I started to add the single cards to later put the text on them. 

I continued to add the cards and started to put letters on them.

I continued to add letters to the cards. 

I added more cards and the letters to start the word "show" to the poster "saying the magic show." 

I completed the word "show" and changed the color of the border to black to match the hat and cards. 

I cleaned up more of the cards and the overlap of them.

I then added some cards facing the opposite direction to look like there were a lot of cards falling and the certain ones fell in the correct direction spelling out "The Magic Show."

I changed the font of the word "magic" to emphasize and make it stand out. I also continues to make the cards look good and fix the layering of the cards and the opacity of them. 

Lastly I deleted the white part of the other cards to match the cards with the letters on them.