The very best ideas have difficult births - if you'll excuse the pun! Contrary to popular belief, failure in any worthwhile endeavour is necessary.

It is illuminating.

Suddenly everything seems clearer and you are propelled to greater heights as a result. A wise man once said, "If you haven't failed, you're not doing it right." and I heartily agree with him.

Be true to that which burns brightly within you. Trends and fads come and go but the things that make you intrinsically you are not only invaluable but should be nurtured, celebrated and exploited for the one-ups that they truly are.

The brass rollerskate above is one of my favourite possessions, much to the consternation of many. It is meant to be a doorstop but it often moonlights as a bookend, tchotchke or a fun reminder that being me - and doing things in my own kooky way - is good enough.

Treat yourself to some good, old-fashioned silliness.

Jump around like a loon to some music, roll around in the grass with your kids or borrow your neighbour's. 

The key is to have more fun and inspiration will spring forth effortlessly. I remind myself regularly that playing hard at work (rather than working hard at it) produces far better results - and a sunny disposition.

Do you have any fun or insightful tips to share? I'd love to hear them!

Today, I thought I'd have a little fun with an item of clothing I haven't worn much lately - the jumpsuit. Often eyed askance by many, I find that it is extremely versatile, slips on a treat - as most one-pieces do - and lends itself rather well to being dressed up or down.

The key is to choose one with a comfortable crotch depth and in a soft, luxurious fabric.

/Images: 1 & 2. Singlet jumpsuit by Hati Hati 3. Cotton polka cardi by Chinti and Parker 4. African print round neck jacket by FAIR + True 5. Papillon clogs by Swedish Hasbeens 6. Sicilian basket I by Muzungu Sisters 7. Maliabeth hobo by Melie Bianco (available in the UK here) 8. SPMA multico moonrock jaune fluo hi-tops by Veja 9. Zanzibar horn necklace and 10. Zanzibar horn cuff both by Edun/

Are you a fan of the jumpsuit? How would you wear yours?

/come into or be in full beauty or health; flourish/

It is happening a little later than scheduled but I think you'll agree that it was certainly worth the wait.

These are scenes that I drive past almost daily and it has been such a treat to watch the gradual emergence of colour and to finally capture it for posterity.

May your weekend be filled with beauty and the joys of a full-blown spring.

I adore hard copy as much as the next girl. The satisfying thud books make when they hit the table, the scent that wafts up as you thumb through printing-press-fresh, crisp pages cannot - in my humble opinion - be beaten. Having said that, there is a lot to be said for their digital counterparts.

I may well be unfashionably late to the party (so do excuse my exuberance!) but it was the lure of convenience - at a swipe of my fingertips - that eventually drew me to this medium. I have the iBooks app on my iPad and it has since become my default means of downloading and reading digitally. Below are but a few of my favourite features.

The bullet point icon on the top left of the above page contains some nifty little shortcuts which enable me to highlight portions of interest, make notes on them or even look up words in the built-in dictionary.

I have a habit of making sure I come to the end of a chapter before I move on to other tasks or errands. The page counter in the bottom right hand corner of each page helps me decide whether to begin one or not based on how much time I can spare.

All this pales in comparison to Seth Godin's vook - Unleashing the SUPER Ideavirus. Not only does it contain functional links, it also has 18 videos which further enhance the insights provided throughout which makes for an even richer learning experience.

Are you an ebook (or vook) geek like me? What fun features have you come across?

If you'd like a more balanced view, you can read the excellent points made by Tina of Colourliving in her post on the joys of printed books.

I haven't felt this way about a book since I greedily devoured the first few digital pages of The Artist's Way - but that's just it.

I find that whenever I happen upon something potentially life-changing, I cannot bear to wait a day longer to possess and fill my consciousness with it. As a result, I now have a digital library and it is full of books written by the Who's Who of personal development - my favourite genre.

I digress, however. The book of which I wax so lyrical - despite having only read 71 pages - is called Flash Foresight by Daniel Burrus. As the title suggests, it expounds the theory that we all have the ability to shape our lives and/or careers (be it in the simplest, most fundamental ways or in the more complex) simply by tuning into and using that most innate of traits - our intuition.

I do hope you will forgive this rather unusual admission but even as I type, I am eager to get back to discovering more. I promise to reveal what I have learned from it here on the blog when the time comes.

Better still, get yourself a copy. That way, we can all get together in the near future and swap tales of how the singular decision to purchase a book changed our lives for the better.

Does this mean I'm forgiven?

While it has been nice to relax, dine alfresco in the garden and have no particular place to go, I have missed the healthy, active, goofball family we used to be. I can only hope that next week marks our triumphant return.

I'll be back on Thursday with something to amuse and/or inspire but, in the meantime, get out there and revel in the sunshine - and each other's delight in it.

In it, I will approach experts in various fields once a month for their advice and insights on how best to achieve total wellbeing - inside and out. 

Allow me to present my first guest. She is none other than Sarah Brown, founder of my favourite skincare brand and unwitting enabler of my Pai habit.

/Image: Andrew Hayes Watkins for Easy Living/

Most of us know by now that there is more to healthy, glowing skin than applying products topically. What are your top tips for cleansing, toning and moisturizing from the inside out?

Pure, gentle and high performance products are of course essential, but truly healthy skin comes from within. Vitamin C keeps skin youthful, Omegas 3, 6 & 9 leave skin smooth and supple and carotenoids protect the skin from environmental damage.

I also try and eat a slightly alkaline diet with plenty of fruit and veg, as way back in the 1930s Ragner Berg’s research suggested this was best for calming and soothing reactive and allergy-prone skin.

Staying active has endless beauty benefits and also helps release endorphins - you can never underestimate the effect of positive thinking on your skin!  

What do you feel are the best treatments one can do at home to boost the results of one's skincare regime?

I am a big fan of simple facial massage and acupressure points - they really help to optimise products' absorption whilst also plumping and toning the skin. 

Most women I know are juggling the pursuit of inner and outer beauty and the mastery of the perfect work/life balance. What skincare regime would you recommend for the average time-poor, 21st century woman?

Keep it simple - cleanse, tone and moisturize! Your skin will thank you for embracing a simple routine as it is very easy to overwhelm it with too many products in an attempt to keep it under control. For treatments, opt for multi-tasking products that deliver a huge array of benefits in one hit. Rosehip Oil, for example, conditions the skin and also improves sunburn, scars, stretch marks, fine lines and age spots. It's my ultimate bathroom cabinet essential!

 Lastly, Pai has been a roaring success garnering awards and acclaim worldwide. What's next for the brand? Any new product ranges in the pipeline you are able to share?

We have some very exciting product launches scheduled for the next 6-9 months. Each one really pushes the boundaries of skin care formulation and contains new and really innovative ingredients. We’ve been working and testing them tirelessly for almost two years and are hugely proud of them. I'm afraid you'll just have to watch this space for details but hopefully the sensitive skinned of you out there will find some unique and incredibly effective solutions to some of the problems that just aren't catered for on the market at the moment.

Thank you, Sarah, for carving out the time to do this amidst the joys and challenges of early motherhood!

P.S. There is lots of useful information embedded in the links so please do take the time to click through if you'd like to delve a little deeper into this muti-faceted approach to skincare!

/Unless otherwise stated all images are from the Pai Skincare website./

I passed a thoroughly pleasant and productive afternoon in London today and as my train whisked me home, I decided to practice some motion shots on a series of shutter speed settings. 

 I have always been fascinated by photographs depicting blurry passers-by but I thought it would be even more fun to capture stationary subjects whilst I was in motion.

Trees became brush strokes against the sky and individual buildings merged into one as they snaked their way across the landscape.

I quite like the way they've turned out and I think I might blow up the second photograph and mount it in "pixels", mixing them up periodically as the mood takes me. Which is your favourite?

I purchased my first issue a few months ago and I have been frantically hunting down every single back issue ever published ever since.

Never have articles been so articulately written, the great and the good so beautifully shot (sans retoucher) nor the niceties of modern life so expertly handled.

Take the article titled That Piece! in the Spring and Summer 2013 issue, for example.

The attention to detail  - in what can only be described as the anatomy of a garment - appealed to the designer in me. I know firsthand what it feels like to have someone notice the near-obsessive thought that has gone into the minutiae of creating an item of clothing and I felt such vicarious gratitude that Charlie Porter had.

It was also within its pages that I discovered Jekka McVicar, Britain's foremost herb grower and unofficial adviser to the finest chefs in the land, no less. I am now mentally figuring out just how far Bristol is from where I live so that I can someday attend one of her rather tempting courses.

If you haven't already had the pleasure, I urge you to seek out a copy and make a gift of it to yourself. I have a sneaking suspicion that you will be just as enamoured of it as I am.

Oh, and if you happen to come across issues numbered 1,2,3 and 6, I shall be forever in your debt.

/Siphiwe Mngometulu/

It seems like an age since I last treated myself to an artist date in London so on Saturday I went to the rather intriguing Interwoven hosted by Habitat's design initiative, Platform, on the King's Road. A brilliant take on old meets new, it featured the work of five Central St. Martins graduates each of whom approached the ancient art of weaving in remarkably thought-provoking ways.

Nadia-Anne Ricketts' exploration of the relationship between sound and weaving led to the discovery of an arithmetic connection which enabled her to create fabrics into which digital music could be woven. Through her label BeatWovenTM, Ricketts - who very aptly describes herself as a textile composer - is able to transform any chosen piece of music from an intagible medium into an item of bespoke and tactile luxury.

/Image from nadia-anne.com/

Coralie Bonnet's embroidered wood pieces were equally unexpected yet infinitely charming. I was particularly taken with the desk below.

/Image from coraliebonnet.com/

Isn't it sweet? I imagine writing one's correspondence (or doing homework) on it would always be a pleasure.

Jane Harper took an urbanist approach to the theme, weaving metal yarn into forms reminiscent of the industrial buildings of her native Manchester.

Lucie Libotte's Splintering Crockery featured magnetic wallpaper which could be customised by moving individual pieces around. It is probably best described as part life-sized jigsaw, part art installation as illustrated in the video below.

"Splintering Crockery" from lucie libotte on Vimeo.

It was the story of Siphiwe Mngometulu and her family that really struck a chord, however.

Told through Philippa Thorne's The Song Of The Weaver, it charts the lives of three generations of women weavers in Siphiwe's family. Each had crafted a biographical basket using materials that represented their daily lives.

The baskets - from top to bottom - were woven by "Gogo" Christina Mngometulu, the matriarch of the family; Siphiwe and Bonakele Ngwenya, Siphiwe's daughter.

The women are part of Gone Rural, a social enterprise formed by Thorne in Swaziland. In the last 20 years, it has encouraged over 760 rural women to produce beautiful homeware fashioned from indigenous Lutindzi grass.

All the pieces in the exhibition are currently for sale and I desperately wanted to give Bonakele's basket  a home but I fear it will be sold before I manage to save up my pennies! Suffice to say, I shall be consoling myself with a little something from this vibrant selection.

P.S. Interwoven is open to the public until April the 28th. You can also find out more about Platform and their upcoming exhibitions here.