I really like the painters tape, but I have also used masking tape or packing tape also. What I use sort of depends on what I have on hand and how long the tape is going to sit on the wood. When I make my jewelry pieces they are small with relatively few cuts, fairly stable and will go through lots of sanding, the tape is on the wood for no more then a couple of hours (depending on how many pieces I am making in a batch) so regular masking or packing tape is ok (and cheaper then painters tape). When doing fretwork portraits they are larger, take longer, are more fragile and generally won't be sanded any more then I have to, I use painters tape. The painters tape comes off cleaner when left on longer (even weeks) and is gentler to remove (no broken bits when taking the tape off.
I use glue sticks (think elementary school crafts) to put my patterns on. Many people use spray glue which works really well but needs a well ventilated space. I live in Minnesota and my well ventilated space is freezing most of the time and I don't like going outside in that. I also find that glue sticks work really well for small patterns like the ones I use for my jewelry pieces. I sometimes go over the pattern with a layer of packing tape. It holds down the edges of the pattern and lets me start cutting before all the glue drys.