Painting Uv map

what is a good way to texture a uv map for a character ? I have so much trouble trying to make parts of the uv map line up takes me like 2-3 times as long to make models and I still cant it just right on the seems …

Lots of great info at blender cookie, http://www.blendercookie.com/2010/01/21/creating-an-axe-part-2/