Don't be so down on the mini or your paint job. You obviously liked it enough to paint it, so stand behind your choice! You did a nice job on the mini itself, it looks very cleanly painted and the jewel is really nice. Any idea where the mini came from, what Ral Partha line?
Simple, but effective. The gem turned out very nicely, and the metal has a nice shine to it. The pic is a little blurry, I think you need to experiment with your depth of field (f/stop) on your camera a bit.