It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that bling

Yesterday I issued a challenge to myself to do an oil painting of a bling bouquet a friend created for her 25th wedding anniversary. (See photo in previous post.) 

Here's how it's going (so far):

Working on a 12" x 12" gallery wrapped canvas and using soft vine charcoal, I drew the basic shape. A circle. Monet would be so jealous. 

Thought I had taken more progress shots, but it went something like this. "Holy Moley, how is this one going to come together?"  Then while listening to Enya, I calmed down and began developing darks and lights and then a few sketches of objects (yep, couldn't help seeing them as objects, rather than shapes sometimes.)

The next photo shows it a lot further along in the block in stage. 

Not sure I like the yellow, greenish gray background. Think the ball would stand out better against a darker background, but what color?