To tell the truth I'd never actually used photoshops smear tool at all. These applets were the first time I'd tried them out. Which is probably why I use them so much now. In any case I really envy your color choices.
Thanks, re: the color. Chibi's smears handle more like paint than Adobe's -- Photoshop just sort of averages the difference between smeared and unsmeared and then makes you really work to drag the "average" around the screen. The end result looks exactly like what you did - drag some average around the screen. (Maybe it's just the versions of Photoshop I use that come bundled with a scanner or printer, but I doubt it.)