Alright mate nice story about how you got into plastering, nice to hear you got the confidence already mate theres a few at my college who are litrelly swimming in the stuff god knows what they gonna be like in somebody's house, you got that experience in first though so thats great, im coming towards the end of my level 2 diploma and my sister in law bought a 1890s house lately and was litrelly falling to peices, ripped all the old lime plaster off down to the wooden laths where needed bonded and skimmed, re-skimmed the areas that i could, the whole house is ready for decorating now,and im very happy with the finish and shes even more happy because she only paid for the materials i did the rest to build my own experience, good luck to you my friend!