Switching to Veneer for the Greene and Greene desk tops

Merry Christmas! I cleaned the shop yesterday to get ready to begin working on the Greene and Greene desks again.   I have decided to switch from the solid wood breadboard tops that I had planned to veneer tops so that I can do the cloud-lift details on the solid wood breadboard ends without fear of future cracking when the wood top expands and contracts.  This is the way that the original was made (I think)...so I guess I don't feel too badly about switching to Mahogany veneer.  I really wanted to do the cloud-lift detail.  I bought the veneer sheet yesterday at Woodcraft, and will try and pick up the substrate material today.

I also preordered Darrell Peart's new Greene and Greene woodworking book from Amazon.   Amazon says that it won't ship till April. I can't wait!  I have based my desk design on one of Darrell's originals.  Too bad this book won't be ready in time to help with this project.