Felt and crochet flower brooch - experimenting with photography

 Now that my crafting corner is much more pleasant to use, I finally got to make something here. It's a brooch made of crocheted flower, an orangy-yellow ball (a circle of felt gathered around the edge and stuffed with polyester wool) and grey and blue-grey felt. 

Now to the photography. 

I've looked through all the photography books in the nearest two libraries in the past year while learning to use my DSLR, but there were no books on crafts photography. I considered buying a book, such as "Crafter's guide to taking great photos" by Heidi Adnum. The reviews on Amazon are excellent. On the other hand, I try to watch my craft-related expenses and not to make any unnecessary purchases. I might still buy the book at some point, but there is so much free information on the internet, including tutorials on how to make a light-box, advice on background  and other great photo tips.  

 I used to photograph all my creations on a plain white background (the back of the children's map of the world - it's huge!). But some of the photos on Etsy, Folksy and other handmade marketplaces, where a piece of jewellery is placed on an antique book, or a map, or a seashell look stunning. So I decided to experiment with the background. Seashells and fluffy yarn and felt didn't go well together at all.  I haven't even taken a photo, but now I think I should, just to compare.

Here I used our family heirlooms, an old Russian fairy-tale book and an old Danish book about Marie Curie:   

Not sure whether this is any better than plain white background:

This one is a bit out of focus - needs to be replaced

In the next few days (given sufficient light and time) I will photograph some of my other creations on different backgrounds and post the photos to compare how they look on the screen.