Apparently I'm illiterate and need to start proofing my work. This background was created by adding difference clouds to the provided source image. Also added a swirl effect, gaussian blur and a gradient layer.
step 6 of 8
step 7 of 8
The top of the tree is a radish top liquified. I then added a layer of green off of the islands ( also a radish) and used a clipping mask. The final version had a watercolor filter added to it as well as a gradient layer to make it darker. The tree trunk is made from the carrots. Used puppet warp and color changes to make it look like a tree trunk and not a carrot.