i used the smoke portrait tutorial as reference here. i also downloaded a bunch of water splash brushes. i can't remember from where, but i'll acknowledge that they're not mine
:EDIT: okay, i did some tracking and this is where i got them from. [link] she is the awesome. couldn't have done this without her brushes. many thanks
and i added some new stars, dimmed the other ones down, and added northern lights. all brushes are from redheadstock, i think....