Before getting on making a nice complex shader, we can go through the endless possibilities given by Blender or we can have a library of the Blender procedural textures. I made a PDF with some variation on the BRICK, CHECKER, MAGIC, NOISE, VORONOI, MUSGRAVE and WAVE textures.
With it, we have the basis of shapes, dirt and textures to create complex shaders. Having this reference can (I hope) make us gain some precious time before losing it struggling with the settings. Comments welcome.
2 PDF files available of 33 pages A4, in color for screen and in black&white for black printing. Enjoy.
Sample:
E10's BLENDER*FILES 