A Mod-Podge-gesso-matte gel medium and what and when- Answer from Jo!

What I have so far!

 In answer to my question on her blog about different mediums etc, Jo (Let's Art Journal) added this in the comments on Tuesday. I'm sure like me, there's some folks baffled by what to use and when... I've learnt sooo much over the last few months watching You Tubers like Ceri The Crafter who spends time explaining, and tons of others that wizz though everything, I thought I'd add her answer down below so I always know whwer to find it! It might help those others too! Hope you don't mind Jo!

  Thanks for visiting my blog, in answer to your question: - matte gel medium and Mod Podge are similar in that they are both adhesive/glue/sealant mediums, however a branded matte gel medium like Liquitex tends to be of a higher quality so it's a stronger adhesive and it's a better sealant, making it easier to add other wet mediums over the top (and remove them) e.g. edging with ink and then smudging ink with your finger. You can buy both Mod Podge and gel medium as "matt" or "gloss", I prefer matt as it takes away any shine and makes pages more uniform as it's less noticeable than gloss, I've heard Mod Podge is thicker and brush marks can often be seen with the gloss one. Gesso is totally different and is not an alternative for matte gel medium. I tend to use "white" gesso which is a white primer used for priming canvas, you can also purchase clear gesso and black gesso. I find Gesso is useful for sealing surfaces making it easier to apply paints/inks/pastels to my pages, also gesso acts as a resist so when colour is added over the top of gesso it can be removed. Hope this helps. Happy T Day! Hugs, Jo x

 Thank you again Jo!