Double the Fun WIPocalypse

I kind of missed last months WIPocalypse. I was in the middle of GISH (An online scavenger/treasure/do good things hunt) and completely forgot about the blog, so this update will be long

July question is Half-year recap: How are you doing with your goals so far this year? 
My big goal this year was to finish the fractal, which I did, Smaller goals include the Mini mandala of the month which is coming along great, I got the border finished and am keeping up with the monthly mandalas without problem. I also wanted to finish the Celtic Cross, which finished at the beginning of August. August to October goal is the Carla and Leo  Halloween Stitch-a-long which is coming along nicely  and hope to do a second one as well.  Final goal of the year will be to do a bunch of Christmas ornaments
Here's what I managed to get done in July and August,  First the Mandalas

Jul

July

August

I finished the Celtic Cross,info on my dA page

I did a super secret project which cannot be shown yet.

Started the Carla and Leo SAL with the Boo Cat from Lucky Star Stitches 

And since Carla and I are only working on Boo Cat during Critical Role related things, I am also doing some of the Spooky Critters from Brooke's Books

GISH even had an embroidery challenge this year,  specifically Create a handmade replica of a widely-known website homepage in needlepoint. I had grand ambitions, (hence missing the blog in July) and got this far

before I realized there was no way on earth that I would finish in time, we only had a week. So I restarted on the opposite corner of the same fabric, it was the only black I had and managed to get this done with about 5 hours to spare.

August question is Which is more satisfying to you and why – the process of stitching a piece, or the finish?
A bit of both for me, though specifically I'd say the most satisfying part is when I finish the cross stitch and move on to the backstitch, I love backstitching.

I think I've managed to stitch more in August than usual this year, while there are no major fires nearby, we have been blanketed in a cloud of smoke for most of the month, as a result I've spent most of the summer just hiding in the computer room watching shows and stitching.

As for what I watched

Tour de France - My annual  “Look at all the roads I want to drive” sporting event. Also the reason I don’t get a lot of stitching done in July

Critical Role: and Talks Machina

Sense 8 - S02  Love this show  how dare they cancel it

Frozen Planet - I can’t stitch watching these, they are too beautiful to see

The Shannara Chronicles  - Season 1- The Shannara series of books was the
fantasy I grew up on, so I watched this with a bit of trepidation.  But it was well done and sort of followed some of the story.  Also Manu Bennet made a fansastic Allanon,

Avatar: The Last Air bender Season 1- I have always had a fondness for Anime and this one comes highly recommended so I finally got around to watching it, the accolades are deserved

Penny Dreadful - Season 1 - My brother lent this to me knowing it was my type of show. It has a great cast and story and a few good cliff hangers as well, here is hoping he already has the second season

Allegiant  - This one confuses me a bit, they said they were making the last book into two movies, (which is never going to happen now) but ended this movie where the book ended. Still enjoyed it though even if they deviated from the book immensely

Jurrasic World   - Dinosaurs and volcanoes, why wouldn’t I love it

The Incredibles 2 - Pixar wins again

Christopher Robin -  Took my mom to this as she’s the Winnie the Pooh fan in the family, and this was sweet as it should be.