the trick getting better with textures is to buy a digital camera. (I'm not joking) take as many photos as possible. and pick objects such as a flower or a vase and take multiple pics of it and study it. look at how the different elements effect it and things like detail. and see how you could achieve it using different maps, such as alpha, bump, normal mapping, and a diffuse texture. then before you know it you'll also have over a thousand images saved on your computer, and most of them will be good for textures.
wind