My sister is very artsy craftsy and loves bead jewellery. I'm going to see her in about 6 weeks and would like to make her a present. I have never made a wearable, but I have been thinking for a while about making something using UV LEDs and uranium glass beads or buttons for a cool glow in the dark effect.
My initial thought was to make a pendant about 1" round with a coin cell on the back, a ring of UV LEDs around a microcontroller, and then string a button in the middle. Something like this: a MSP430G2231 with 8 LEDs connected to its IO pins and a tactile switch to turn it on/off/cycle through flash/fade modes.
What I'd really like to do though is string a 2-3 buttons on a necklace interspersed with UV LEDs and use conductive thread to connect them with a Gemma-type PCB/clasp on the back. Anybody have any experience with that sort of thing?