Turning on eight LEDs
simulate this circuit &ndash; Schematic created using CircuitLab

Figure 1. A shift-register made with 'D' flip-flops.

How it works:


Every time the clock goes high (V+) the data on the 'D' input appears on 'Q'.
All the clocks read at the same moment so REG2 won't see the change on REG1 until the next cycle.
When SW1 is switched to ground the LEDs will turn off one by one starting at D1.


Timing diagram.

               _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _ 
  Pulse    ___| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |___
               _________________________________
  LED 1    ___|
                   _____________________________
  LED 2    _______|
                       _________________________
  LED 3    ___________|