African themed card

On AFTCM, I joined an African themed card swap.  After a bit of brainstorming I came up with a sketch from which I created this card.  I applied strips of black and gold lame fabric around the edges of my card using double sided tape.  The fabric is bold and graphic - perfect of my African theme.  Inside this frame I created an gold embossed element which highlights the poem, Dawn of Tomorrow, by Chidi A Okoye about the arrival of a new day for Africa.  I used an embossing pen to sketch the elements and gold embossed them as I went - the border, the inside frame, the zigzag border and finally the heart.  I trimmed out the center of the heart and used bleach in a pointed nib to write the poem on the card front so it would show through the open heart.  I added clear plastic and some 3D foam tape to the back of the heart, added some gold micro beads on the card front and glued my heart element down encapsulating the beads creating a shaker element.  I added a piece of gros grain ribbon tied with a little gold coloured heart charm which adds some texture and a bit more dimension to my card.  There are several different colours of gold which provides richness and symbolizes the riches of Africa.
I enjoyed creating my own element for this card and playing with lines and gold embossing powder!!
Therese