We used wood inserts at the studio in place of the real thing.  Luckily, the instructions on the back remind us that they are not part of the mosaic.

 After Lynn selected the stone she wanted, the marble and onyx globes were cut and polished by a local company

The marble inserts are almost an inch thick and our mosaic is  less than 1/4 of an inch so Mike has to cut out the cement board and place support behind it so the marble has something to adhere to.  The result will be that the marble will be flush with mosaic

An already difficult process becomes more challenging if you're surrounded by alarms set off by dust!

End of day 2. Now that the boards are staying on, Mike can  tape up the seems and cover them with cement