Mhh.. where is the border between normal "post processing" and artifical editing? It depends for sure on the point of view, doesn't it.
Personally I don't like the filter which you've used for your pictures
Greg Shchepanek but that's a matter of taste.
Your second post looks for me like what I would call normal post-processing but the color shift is hard at the limit.
I use filters very rarely and only for artifical pictures like my flower artworks.