I'm working on a birthday cake I need to finish tonight! I'm trying to do a frozen buttercream transfer and it keeps sticking to the wax paper! WHY? What am I doing wrong? I've already done my artwork 2 times now and I'm really starting to stress out. I didn't think it would be this hard. What can I do to fix this problem? Thnak you for your help.

What kind of icing are you using? I have read an all butter bc will have that problem.

I use BC with butter in it and have no problems, I have had transfers stick when I've been impatient ....are you allowing the FBCT to freeze hard, like in the freezer for an hour? Also, FBCTs need to be immediately placed onto the cake, maybe the trip from the freezer to cake is taking too long.

Things I have noticed that have caused sticking issues for me are:

1. Icing is too soft. I use a soft medium, but thin icing tends to stick for me.
2. Dark colors, again cause the icing usually gets too soft when adding in all that color. My fix for that is to mix in some cornstarch.
3. Transfer being done too thin. The thinner it is the faster it thaws.
4. Small pieces that stick out away from the main part of the transfer. These always want to stay behind on the wax paper for me.
5. Not moving very quickly once it comes out of the cake. You literally need to have the transfer on the cake and be peeling away the backing as fast as you can.

I use all crisco buttercream, because that is what I use for the rest of the cake. I honestly can't see crisco, butter or a mixture making a difference, as long as the buttercream freezes.

I like to freeze them overnight or 8 hrs minimum. These suckers should be hard enough to be a lethal weapon.

Not sure if you're in a home or shop environment, but with my comm'l freezer, I liked them frozen overnight .... and home freezers are not as cold as a comm'l freezer (lots of opening and closing of a home freezer door causes inconsistency in the temp). For future reference, parchment paper works better than wax paper, for me.

Thank you for all your responses. I've watched videos and have noticed the FBC gets "really" hard. Mine just doesnt' seem to be getting hard like that. It's still kind of soft even after freezing overnight.
The consistency of my buttercream isn't overly thin when I'm doing my artwork. In fact, it's thick enough that I can see the lines in my icing.

the only time I have that problem is when I don't use an icing with butter in it because shortening doesn't freeze like butter does so I use one with at least 1/2 cup of butter in it. I also leave mine in the freezer overnight if possible or for a minimum of 2 hours, take it out and plop it right on the cake, no leaving it out for anytime at all because it only takes a few minutes for it to thaw!!
When you take it out, try not to touch the icing area or use a towel over your hand instead because if you have hot or warm hands and are handling the transfer, it is enough to warm the icing and it will stick in the areas that you have touched.

I used indydebi's buttercream on parchment paper. It never sticks if I freeze it for a minimum of 1 hour. I tried it on waxed paper once, and it stuck.

I used all-butter BC (butter and powdered sugar and milk and flavoring) and it didn't stick at all.
I didn't freeze for long, more like 1-2 hours.
And the climate here is hot & humid and I don't have A/C in my kitchen. Not a problem here.

So I don't think all butter BC is the cause. But yup, the consistency of the icing may be the cause. It needs to be fairly thick.