stenciling/paint questions...

[http://users.livejournal.com/_snowflake/]

I want to get into stenciling/painting designs onto bags and clothes, but i have a few questions that hopefully some of you can answer!

1. what sort of paint can i use? i went to the craft store and only found puff paints for fabric or screen printing ink. would screen printing ink work ok if i'm not using a screenprinter?

2. is there a particular type of material that i should avoid stenciling on?

thanks.