Now that restrictions are easing, we’re all enjoying the little moments we’ve missed over the past 18 months, like meeting up for coffee with friends, soaking up the joys of nature on swims or walks with friends or visiting our favourite restaurants.

In a new series, we meet some of Avoca’s firm friends and fans to find out what it is about Avoca that makes it such a special, memorable place for so many. Below, founders of Dusty Boy husband-and-wife duo Justin Campbell and Kate Rose Crean share their #AvocaMoments.

We’d also love you to share your #AvocaMoments with us. To be in with a chance to win two A4 prints* from Dusty Boy Designs, all you have to do is share your #AvocaMoments. You can email us on digital@thegloss.ie or share a picture or video on Instagram, make sure to tag and follow us @theglossmag and @avocaireland and use #AvocaMoments so we can see your entries. 

Avoca has collaborated with innovative Irish business Dusty Boy to create an exclusive collection of 24 prints just in time for Christmas. Like many of Avoca’s initiatives this festive season, the collection is borne of a desire to back local businesses and support positive mental health as well as place Avoca’s signature stamp of creativity on products so that customers can make purchases that mean more to them.

Based in the Co Wexford countryside, Dusty Boy was founded by husband-and-wife duo Justin Campbell and Kate Rose Crean. Each print is created and hand-finished in their bright and colourful home studio. Their eye for detail and design, combined with creativity and vision make each print special. For this collaboration with Avoca, the idea was to incorporate some of the Avoca values, ethos and story. “When we think of Avoca, we think about colour, nature, home making, celebrating, comfort, crafting, flowers, sharing moments and connecting. All of which resonate so deeply with us. And that was exactly where we rooted this collection,” says Kate Rose.

Many of the prints include words or affirmations, words that chime with how we feel now. The prints are designed to reflect those things – home, nature, connectedness – that have renewed meaning post-pandemic, and that also reflect the origins of Avoca. Some reference weaving, knitting, stitching, wool, trees, roots and branches. Others depict life’s occasions … new adventures, love, loss, celebrations. Kate Rose explains why word art can be so powerful: “When my own feelings feel too big, words are always where I find so much comfort. That’s why at the heart of our designs are sentiments and feelings – expressed in words – that help bridge the gap and hopefully make a difference to somebody in a world that can sometimes feel a little lonely.”

Among the collection is a print, In The Bare Winter Wood, designed to support Avoca’s partnership with St Patrick’s Mental Health Services, with all proceeds of this selected print going directly to St Patrick’s Mental Health Walk in My Shoes campaign. “Now more than ever, it’s so important to check in with ourselves, our family and friends, and to begin meaningful conversations around mental health and wellbeing,” says Justin. “We were very happy when Avoca asked us to be a part of this incredible campaign. It’s something that we wholeheartedly believe in.”

Dusty Boy began out of the couple’s passion for thoughtful design and meaningful words. Their advice to young creators on how to turn a passion into a successful business? “Make something that you love and the people that matter will love it too. Doing something that you love means that you will always create something that’s individual, important and full of heart which I think is the absolute essence of anything beautiful. In times when things are lean, running a business that has meaning makes it easier to keep going and the reward will always be greater,” says Justin.

As the couple look forward to gathering with family at Christmas and enjoying doing the things they love most, Kate Rose says their favourite #AvocaMoments are those that involve “coffee, cake, delicious food and clinking glasses, kisses with nieces and nephews, seeing, feeling and smelling my favourite things in my favourite shops!” As their home and workplace is in Co Wexford, a trip to Dublin involves lots of potential #AvocaMoments. “Stopping off with my Mam on the way to Dublin for lots of chats, coffees, pear and almond scones and picking up little luxuries before I leave (always a new notebook and a warm loaf of bread!).”

The Dusty Boy prints collection for Avoca is available in Avoca stores including Rathcoole, Kilmacanogue, Dunboyne and Suffolk Street. www.avoca.com

*Competition winner will receive A4 prints of ‘The World is Your Oyster’ and ‘Just Keep Swimming’ by Dusty Boy Designs.