My first girlfriend had really awesome nipples, they were big, like Dots Candies, and I've been jealous ever since.
nipple suction works... but you have to be relentless about it. I mean, suction them to an uncomfortable level, and leave them like that for many hours every day for a year or more. Suctioning can work, just like corseting can work, but you can't approach it casually and expect to see any results. You have to apply pressure/suction to your body enough of the time to amount to a significant portion of your daily life. Your body is always making new cells, while you are applying force to the shape of your body, it will make new cells in a manner which conforms to that force. But only while you're applying force. So to see change, you have to apply the force a significant portion of your 24 hour day, 7 days a week. just look at earlobe plugs or the cinched-in ring around the waist where your belt goes, same principal.
using nipple suction devices myself, I have achieved a moderate permanent increase in girth and and projection, and increased nipple elasticity (which means they can be twisted further, or sucked into a mouth deeper). I'd say total nipple volume increased by about 75% (about 30% longer, 30% wider). Also, the areoli have become 'slightly' more cone shaped rather than laying flat along the contour of the breast.
the diameter of the suction device will affect exactly how you're stretching. I started out with a device that only suctioned the nipples, it was somewhat wider than the nipples, but quickly filling with just nipple tissue when suctioned. But lately I've been using a slightly wider suction device, and it seems to suck in some of the areoli along with the nipple, this is the cause of increased areola elasticity and slight cone-shaping. I would imagine that a really large suction device could be used to work on 'puffies'. To get extra projection, use a narrower suction cup, and lubricate it thoroughly so that your nipples can glide deep into it when suctioned.
It's sometimes a good idea to suction them for about 5 minutes, and then take them off, adjust each of them and kinda fine-tune just how hard they are sucking on your nips. it should hurt a bit, but not hurt a ton. if the pain slowly increases for more than 5 minutes after re-seating, re-do them with a little bit less suction. it should only hurt for a bit, then turn to a sort of dull ache that becomes easy to ignore.
I leave them in place for different lengths of time. if they are aching a bit too much, i may pull them free sooner. if they are settled into a comfortable tight suction, then i'll just leave them in place for as long as I'm able to. Normally, I use my 'computer time' to perform double duty as suction time. If I watched tv, that would be an ideal time too. The suction cups will likely pop off in your sleep if you roll around much, so i haven't had much luck suctioning overnight. Perhaps if i got slightly less protruding suction cups, and wore a sports bra over them to bed... hmmm... something new to try tonight...
immediately following suction, the nipples are too sore to touch (I'm fairly aggressive with the suction, but I like results). but a while later they are tender "in a good way". basically they're more sensitive, like they would be after any other form of 'nipple torture' as it's called in some circles. The end result is that they are very sensitive, big and engorged, and a lot of fun to play with. If you 'overdo it' they will remain slightly sore for the rest of the day, and you won't want to play with them.
It's possible that 'overdoing it' from time to time might increase effectiveness. But I'm a fan of the approach to use slightly less suction than it takes to cause lasting soreness, but leave it in place for hours at a time. I confess it's a turn on to see my nipples right after pulling the suction cups off, they look HUGE, like large fingertips, but they're sore, and I have to leave them alone for a while, as they slowly deflate. they're still almost double normal size when they are un-sore enough to enjoy playing with.
I plan to give it another year of suction, to see how that goes. And then i'm going to look into inducing lactation, which should also cause some nipple growth. I'm hoping that by increasing the tissue size before hormonally affecting them, that they'll see increased benefits. By that I mean if (and this is a huge IF) lactation makes them grow say 50% in size... then by having larger nipples to start with, it's "possible" I could see that much more total growth.
And then, after lactation (well, after lactation isn't growing them anymore, I'm not sure I will ever want to stop lactating), I was thinking about collagen. It's kinda a tiered approach

I want my nipples to be as big as good sized thimbles

Having big succulent nipples is one part of breast growth fetish I feel that I can explore with relatively no downside.
(by the way, I'm intimately familiar with how 'recently suctioned' nipples look, and I'm almost certain that September Carrino is suctioning her nips before photo shoots, of course hers are somewhat larger than mine to start with, but if you find some older pics of her nipples, where they don't have a redish hue to them, and she's wearing her piercings... and then compare that to how her nips look in pictures where they look extra-pink and don't have any piercings in them... that's about the look of suctioned nipples about a half hour after suctioning )