Today we’d like to introduce you to Stefanie Shank.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Weenieton first started as an animation experiment that I created for fun. I started off exploring animations of ocean waves, flowers blooming, and palm trees for my Tumblr account. One day I felt inspired to try to animate my best friend, my miniature dachshund Tooie. I drew an animation of her doing her little yoga stretch she would do after waking up from her naps in the old fashioned way with pencil and paper and using my iPad as the light box. One morning, my phone was buzzing with thousands of Instagram follow requests. I was confused because my Instagram account was private and only had random pics of my personal life on it. Turns out, Reece Witherspoon had found my Tooie animation on Tumblr and shared it to her personal page and tagged me. After that, I decided to make my Instagram account public and let if be a home for my art celebrating Tooie. The walking weenie animation started one Super Bowl where I was bored with the game and animated a pup during half time. I had so much fun with that pup animation and started dressing her up in various outfits. That’s where the signature character of Weenieton was born. The product line started slowly first with an enamel pin. We had such a great response, the line grew from there. Weenieton has grown over the years organically to a now expanding product line, pop-up shop appearances, and now products in World Market.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Weenieton has always been my happy place, but of course not without struggles. A big challenge has been being able to keep up with the business demands all on my own. Weenieton was my “side hustle” for many years while I was a Creative Director at Nickelodeon, and is now my “side hustle” as I am a mother of my 3 year old daughter Poppy and 16 month old son Kit and a playful young dappled dachshund named Dilly. The kids and pup at this age are pretty full-on, so my time for art, order fulfillment, and communication is quite limited, and requires me to burn the midnight oil to keep up. I feel like I always creatively want to do more than there are hours available in the day.
Another major heartbreak was losing our dear dachshund Tooie this year. She was almost 19 years old and truly my best friend and the sweetest little girl. She was my inspiration, my sidekick, and the whole heart and soul behind Weenieton. Her spirit lives on through her artwork and all of the other dachshunds I’ve met through this community and all of the hearts she has touched along the way.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am an Illustrator, Animator and Designer who specializes in dachshund art. I’m known for creating the walking weenie dog gif that you can find on gif platforms such as Giphy, Instagram Stories Stickers, Messenger etc. I have created a dachshund community and shop called “Weenieton” inspired by the art.
A side project that I am most proud of, that’s not doxie related and not many people know about, is that I animated the official music video for “Darlin'” by the Beach Boys, my all time favorite band. I pulled the inspiration from the album cover art of “Wild Honey” which was a photo of a honeybee detail from a stained glass window in Brian Wilson’s house. I researched various vintage photographs to piece together the whole original window of the home. For the video, I illustrated the completed stained glass window and panned around the flowers with the honeybee, revealing pics of the Beach Boys along the way.
I am also very proud to have joined Cape Cod Doxie Day in the past five years and help co-host and watch the event grow. We’ve collaborated with Cape Cod beer in making custom brews and host an annual Weenie Waggin’ and Waddle Parade. This year was struck by a huge Nor’easter, but the weenies still had a HUGE turnout and it was a blast inside the brewery despite the torrential downpour outside.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
Celebrating holiday traditions are one of my favorite parts of Weenieton, from our annual Pupkin and Costume Contest, to our 12 Days of Doxmas countdown, there’s something nice about a little ritual that you can count on. I am so grateful for the dachshund community that celebrates with us every year on social media and looking forward to adding new ideas to the calendar as we go.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://weenieton.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weenieton
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/weenieton
- Other: https://stefanieshank.com
