I haven't seen that many shards encased...there are some really neat effects with those!
The rest, it would just a matter of preference and working style. There are quite a few threads but you would have to go back a few to get to the ones that are specific. There isn't so much out for a lot of the newer ones, I have noticed.
There are also some nice tutorials. Anouk and Hayley did a few, and I can't recall the rest offhand. Some are listed in the paid tutorial section, and I think a few of those are on Etsy.
Glad you are getting things back to normal
