Working With Paintstiks

First, get your mise en place ready, as they say in chef school.
Clear off a workspace, and protect it with newspaper, a plastic tablecloth or silicone release paper. Wear old clothes or an apron, so you don't get paint on your clothes. (Just like kindergarten)
My basic toolkit:
Blue painters tape, to hold stencils, fabric and rubbing plates in place.
Invisigrip, to keep rubbing plates from sliding on the table
A paper plate or Palette Paper, to mix colors on
A dedicated vegetable peeler, to be used only with the paintstiks, to remove the protective film. (See the little paint peelings in the picture? Paintstiks have a protective film that keeps them from drying out. You remove this before painting with a rough paper towel, vegetable peeler or little paring knife. It's easy to remove and comes right off. Be careful not to get paint all over your hands. Maybe I am just really messy, but I always do, and end up with paint on my nose. It does wash right off...but still. Kids require supervision with this.)
Scrap fabric, to practice on. I do a lot of practice samples before I use the "good fabric". Kind of like making a muslin - same idea. The more you practice, the better you get.
Assorted paintstiks
stencil brushes
Purchased or home-made stencils
And most importantly - time to practice, play and try out new ideas.
That's what I'm doing today - trying out different colors and fabrics and just seeing what develops.