Sweet Spot Card Shop + Giveaway

Ladies, and gentleman, let me introduce you to Leesandra Diaz. An amazing mother of twins, wife and entrepreneur, who resides in "La Gran Manzana" [the big apple, in Spanish], New York! I fell in love with her uber unique, one of a kind greeting cards and creative ways of using paper! Her store, Sweet Spot Card Shop has an array of hand-made items; greeting cards, rings, and wreaths to name a few! I am over the moon, with Sweet Spot Card Shop because Leesandra is able to capture and create the feelings of being unique/special, loved and humous in her all of her items!

1. Your cards are so unique, what is your approach to designing? My approach is to "do what I know". By that I mean that I design things based on my own experiences, i.e. what I'd wear (jewelry), what I'd say. It's also heavily based on relationships with my friends and family.

2. What 3 words best describes your cards? happy, colorful, and unique.

3. Is there a certain food, drink or song that inspires you? Oh boy. I constantly have music on when I create. Lots of times I make cards based on lyrics that stick in my head. A while ago, I made a card based on a drink and a song. It all depends on my mood, whether it'll be lovey dovey or funny or just plain old crazy! But the biggest inspiration is my family. My boys and my hubby are my everyday inspirations.

4.What is your outlook on life? My motto is "one day at a time". I suffer from a chronic illness and I have to learn that I can't control how I feel physically, but I can sure try hard to control how I feel inside and how I see things. It's a constant work in progress, but I can say for sure that my outlook has improved greatly from what it was 5 years ago. I've learned to accept what I can't do and do a cannon ball jump into things I can do. Things are only as bad as you let them be.

5. How did you decide to start your shop? How did you decide to "take it to the next level?" I decided to start my shop so that I could have a real reason to keep creating. I figured that if I had people depending on me for something, I wouldn't just let me desire to create die. It has also been a great stress reducer as I can come into my little studio and just create. Not to mention that it helps me keep my sanity from raising my twin boys. Last year, I decided to "take it to the next level" by setting more serious and actually dedicating set hours to networking and creating. It's been great and I've loved every minute of it. I'm coming back now after having closed my shop in June and I'm geared up and ready to do my thing!

6. Any words of advice/tips for people who want to express their creativity, but don't know how? Stay true to yourself! I can't stress that enough. Don't do something just because you see that others have success with it. You need to do something that  feels natural and right to you. It's the only way your creativity and your product will shine above other and the only way you will find true joy in what you are doing. Lots of people don't believe that they are truly creative, but I believe everyone has something the can contribute to the world. You just have to dig in there and find it. So, get diggin'!

Leesandra is offering to giveaway a flower ring (pictured above) and a $20 gift certificate to Sweet Spot Card Shop (good for about 4 cards!) to one lucky Nina on the Moon reader!