I have now truly experienced the small.
Imagine: An LED chip, nay, SPECK, that is 0.6 x 1.0 mm in size, and only 0.2 mm thick.
That is not much different in size than the period in a 12-point font, and not all that much thicker than the paper it is printed on.
I have, however, successfully soldered two 22-gauge wires to this chip (note: the wire is 0.6 mm in diameter), one wire on either end.
And.
It worked. I made it light up.
It only took three tries, too. Fortunately, I started with 150 LEDs, so even a 1:5 loss is not going to be a problem.
Now I have to epoxy it into a bead and I'll have a glowing bead!
You may all now bask in the glory that is me.