The Value of Color

This PCAGOE Challenge is called 50 shades of grey. Of course it's a play on words on the infamous book but what we were to study is the value of the scale from white to black. We could make something from black to white or use another color and turn the photo into a black and white one. I made both a black to white piece and a color piece. For the challenge I chose the color photo turned to black and white because I liked it better as a photo. I made a Xmas ball for my tree which is blue, white and silver. It looks great in the tree and the photo turned out really well in black and white.
The black and white piece is a bell for the tree. It is fine but it does not match my tree and the photo did not show off the value study that it is. Here is a photo of the bell. You can let me know what you think. Any suggestions on how to make it work would be appreciated.

The following photo is the Xmas ball in color on my tree. It looks great with all the other decorations.

This last photo is my challenge photo. I love the way it turned out. It definitely has a long ago newspaper feel and I think the value of the black to white shows up well. Of course, any and all suggestions are appreciated.

So, another year of challenges is met and I always learn so much from them and my fellow challenge participants. I look forward to another year of challenges, both from clay and life. I wish everyone  the peace of the season along with all the goodies and laughter it can bring. I pray that everyone can be filled with the wonder of life and that everyone stay safe for the wonders to come. Happy
Christmas and a wonderful new year!